Cantor's - Celebrating 75 Years

Qua Qualit lityS yService,QualityPeople Available24hoursaday,7daysaweekLOWEMechanicalServices providesafter-hoursserviceforallrefrigeration,mechanical,electrical, andbuildingcontrolsemergencies. CongratulationstoCANTOR'S ontheir70thAnniversary! (204)233-3292 www.lowecanada.com • • • • • • • • Page 5 it's not certain how or when the business will be handed down to a fourth generation. Son Ryan is studying sciences at the University of Winnipeg, and while daughter Lexi has expressed interest in managing the business at some point, she's currently in law school. Ed's three siblings — brother Michael and sisters Rhonda Cantor and Merle Rosenberg — took different career paths, although Rhonda worked at Cantor's as a teen, and later returned for a year while she was in the midst of a career change, and Merle had a summer job at the store for a short time when she was about 15. Today, Rhonda and Merle are both regular customers — they say they wouldn't buy meat anywhere else. "I don't have anything to compare it to," Merle says. "But from what I hear from friends, they'll say things like, 'You don't get a butcher, you don't get that one-on-one service anymore.' You know, it's all prepackaged." Rhonda's visits are less frequent since Joe Cantor died in May 2013 and Oscar Cantor is no longer able to work. "I used to go shopping all the time because it would be to see my dad and my uncle, but my brother, I can see him any time," she says. For almost 70 years, the store was a second home to Joe and Oscar. Rhonda says they were so devoted to the business, they disliked long weekends because they'd have to find something else to do for two days. In fact, Joe died on a long weekend, suffering a heart attack on his way home after the store closed on Saturday. The brothers were just 19 when they started running the business with their mother, Sara, and they often worked seven days a week until Joe's wife, Leah, put her foot down. "We were never open on Sunday that I can remember. My mom said, 'If you don't close on Sundays, I'm going to divorce you,' " Ed laughs. But Joe was as devoted to his family on weekends as he was to the store on weekdays. He made sure Sunday meals together were a weekly event and after their mother died in 2003, the four siblings took turns hosting dinner at their homes. Merle says Joe was proud they kept the tradition. "As much as he loved the store, I know there was something so special to him about getting together." Holding with tradition at Cantor's Quality Meats & Groceries is up to Ed Cantor for the moment. So far, so good. Gastl Belcourt says employees are like a family unto themselves, always looking out for each other. And Merle figures the business is in good hands with her brother. "He's been in there forever — he got great training," she says. "Granted our generation now is not going to do it the same way because how many people could? "Their life was working, but they loved it and they were happy and there wasn't a day they didn't have a smile on their faces." Christine Gastl Belcourt Manfred Thaller Ed Cantor D.L.M.LogisticsCorp. SPECIALIZINGINWAREHOUSEFOODSTORAGE WEEKEND&AFTERHOURSSERVICEAVAILABLE FREIGHTCONSOLIDATION&CROSS-DOCKING OURDAILYMOTTOIS"WeAimtoPlease" 160-1821WELLINGTONAVENUE•204-582-1754 CongratulationstoCantors "TheHomeofQualityMeats"ontheir70thAnniversary. "It's like a home. I know most of the customers coming in,"

• Cover