{"id":29742,"date":"2021-08-04T21:26:32","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T01:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=29742"},"modified":"2021-08-12T13:35:09","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T17:35:09","slug":"omars-set-to-write-new-chapter-in-aurora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/omars-set-to-write-new-chapter-in-aurora\/","title":{"rendered":"Omar’s set to write new chapter in Aurora"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Raz and Mae Khamissa, along with their daughter Saarah, closed a significant chapter in their lives last week when they closed the doors of Omar\u2019s Shoes for the last time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the end of an era for the popular shoe store, which has been a mainstay at the Aurora Shopping Centre on Yonge Street at Murray Drive for nearly 52 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omar\u2019s announced their decision to close this past spring after being unable to come to a resolution with their landlord over rent relief for businesses left struggling due to the global pandemic. But, at the eleventh hour \u2013 this past Thursday, to be exact \u2013 relief came when the business secured a new space to re-open this December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, most importantly for the family, a new location in Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur origins are in Aurora, so it was killing is that we couldn\u2019t find a spot in Aurora,\u201d says Raz, who co-owns the business started by his father, Omar, more than 50 years ago with his wife, Mae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt one point, we decided that maybe we\u2019ll just call it quits and we\u2019ll find something else to do,\u201d adds Mae. \u201cBut we thought of our staff. We thought of Adam and Gemma who have been with us from ABLE Network (an organization which, among other services, finds job placements in the community for individuals with intellectual disabilities) for more than 15 years. Our customers said, \u2018You can\u2019t give up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A welcome development came from Mike Rice of The Rice Group, a company which has several commercial developments in the York Region community, including on Aurora\u2019s Bayview Avenue corridor. Rice, a long-time customer of Omar\u2019s Shoes, reached out to the family after several leads for other spaces within Aurora fizzled, with a few options on units that weren\u2019t on the leasing market just yet but would be in short order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the potential units they looked at were too small, others were too far away from customers, but the unit they ultimately secured in the L.A. Fitness plaza on Bayview Avenue, just south of Pedersen, ticked all the right boxes \u2013 but moving from the older part of Aurora to an area which has grown exponentially over the last decade was not an easy one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith anything, location is important,\u201d says Mae. \u201cWe were really stressed that we needed to be where there was lots of traffic, but our customers told us, \u2018You don\u2019t have to be. We\u2019ll find you. You\u2019ve got a brand, you\u2019ve got the name, so find a place and we\u2019ll find you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere,\u201d she adds, gesturing towards their new unit, \u201chas great traffic, has exposure, and the traffic is on this side of Town. We wanted to stay on the other side of Town, but a lot of our customers said, \u2018Listen, we live on this side of Aurora but remember something: most of us who are on this side of Town will still come to you, but there is a difference \u2013 our kids have grown up and moved away, so you don\u2019t have that traffic, but younger families are at that end of Town. You\u2019ll have us and you\u2019ll gain newer families,\u2019 and that is how we came to our decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have had staff with 20-odd years with us, they were all in distress [about closing] saying, \u2018This is where we come to be with our other family.\u2019 They were so anxious over the last few months, texting and calling, asking if we found something. \u2018Did we find something?\u2019 We. At the end of last week, when finally everything was okay with the Rice Group, we called them all in together, we had a huge family meeting and just the happiness in the room was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Khamissas plan to fully re-open Omar\u2019s Shoes in their new Aurora home this December, just in time for holiday shopping. In the meantime, as their new space is readied, their landlords have offered them a temporary smaller unit in the plaza which they hope to operate as a pop-up store as early as September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are also brainstorming how to ensure the next chapter of Omar\u2019s honours the one that has just closed. They aim to incorporate many mementos into the new store as possible that were recently uncovered, some long forgotten, as they packed up 51 years of memories in their old location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it is really exciting that it can continue,\u201d says Saarah, the third generation to join Omar\u2019s. \u201cThat is mainly why I got into this business and wanted to help run the business with my parents and take over because it meant so much to me to be able to carry on my grandfather\u2019s and dad\u2019s legacies and everything they have done. I am excited this story hasn\u2019t ended in Aurora and we can continue our story here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo matter what, Aurora will always be our home and we\u2019re very happy to still stick around here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong>
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/em><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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