Kyle & Rhonda Camilleri
But Rhonda wanted to come home and Kyle, being her husband and all, was pretty keen on coming with her. So in September last year, the young but veteran Camilleris took over South Ridge’s largest grocer.
30
Neither of the owners of Sobey’s in Medicine Hat has reached the age of 30, yet Kyle and Rhonda Camilleri’s combined experience in the grocery industry would most certainly suggest otherwise.
Rhonda, who grew up in Medicine Hat, took her very first job as a courtesy clerk at Sobey’s, under the tutelage of former owner Jim Turner, before working her way up to cashier and supervisor.
Rhonda then moved to Calgary, where still at Sobey’s she eventually became the front-end manager and then the administration manager.
“And that’s where I met Kyle,” says Rhonda, now 27.
Kyle, from Calgary, similarly began working at Sobey’s as a teenager as a courtesy clerk, before working his way up to the assistant store manager position, which is what he was doing when Rhonda arrived.
“Rhonda came to the store and we met, and then we started dating,” says Kyle, now 26. Dating didn’t take long to become love, and not far behind love was marriage.
Eventually, the couple had two boys, who are now three and a half and two.
“We had always kind of talked about moving back to Medicine Hat,” Kyle says. “We saw there was a posting to move out here and so we applied for it. But we didn’t realize it was a franchise opportunity until Sobey’s called us and asked if we’d be interested (in ownership).”
“I don’t think it works against us,” Kyle says. “There’s obviously challenges with everything but I think a lot of people were excited when we came in and brought some new ideas and some different things.
“That kind of piqued people’s interests.”
“I think there’s some people, you kind of maybe have to show them you’re capable,” says Rhonda. “Maybe you have to prove yourself sometimes but there were no major obstacles or anything like that, everyone was really welcoming when we came to the store.”
It didn’t take long for the couple to make themselves part of the community either, as a campaign was started in the fall to raise money for the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter, resulting in a cheque for more than $5,500 and a public head shaving for Kyle.
“One of Sobey’s core values is to proudly serve your community,” Kyle says. “I know both Rhonda and I take that really to heart and we think it’s important that businesses give back to their community.
“So we said right from the get-go that we wanted to be really active in the community. The Turners were previously very active and we wanted to follow their example.”
Coming home to Medicine Hat had much more meaning to the couple than just a great opportunity with Sobey’s and they want their children to experience the city and be a part of the city.
“We’re raising our kids here and so we want to be part of the community,” says Rhonda. “We want to see what’s out there and help out where we can because this is a great place to grow up and great place to raise a family.”
Dione Todd Owner of
Re/Max Medalta Real Estate Cell: 403.580.9779
Email:
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41073734•05/25/12
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