Join us Wednesday Feb 1 at 9114-51 avenue/ Thursday, Feb 2 at 12028-149 street/ Friday Feb 3 at 10646-170 street/ Saturday Feb 4 at 3434-99 street. Celebrate with us!
40 – seems like only yesterday.
Here it is! Our 40th year kicks off February 1! It seems like only yesterday Dad and Jacquie, and baby Brock, were sitting staring at each other waiting for customers. Why would people who have never been in the food business dare to enter the realm of health regulations? How would anyone fund a business like that when banks are very apprehensive to loan any dollars to restaurants? Well that is where creativity and ingenuity reined. Did you know in the early 1980’s you couldn’t get a loan for anything (interest rates were double digit) but you could get money to buy a few head of cattle? And did you know that when you sold said herd, at a profit I might add, you didn’t have to repay that money for at least a year? Of course that seed money combined with Dad’s ‘passion’ , most would call it an addiction, for auction sales set up that little shop on 118 avenue. And, to supplement the income, or lack there was for a few months mom set up her knitting machine sales and lessons in the little lean-to on the back of the ice cream shop.
Fifendekel’s growth is really like the hair shampoo commercial. One person came in, loved the experience and told their friends. They in turn told their friends. And so on and so on. It’s been our best form of advertising and growth still to this day.
We were reminded the other day about our ice cream pies. Now that was a labour of love. They took many hours to create and the products made them a higher price point product. But they were delicious. A favourite-mint ice cream on a chocolate crumble crust.
It wasn’t until Barb entered the company full time that sandwiches became our ‘bread and butter’. Barb left Edmonton Northlands to open what is still our location at 9114-51 avenue. That system of ordering sandwiches you see today was then new and unique in the world of Canadian sandwich shops. Today it is an expectation that you would not see your sandwich being made. She is a woman great at systems and frankly she put Fifendekel ahead of the curve.
That turkey and beef you see on the sandwich board is roasted in a Fife kitchen. Those eggs are boiled and peeled by our staff and, the veggies? Yes they are sliced daily by our staff. Over the years much has remained the same when it comes to how we prepare the food but when we have the opportunity to make your lunch even tastier and fresher we are willing to go through the growing pains of change. One of those changes you will find in the next few weeks is our locations switching to Thiels Greenhouse|Naked Greens, Green Leaf Lettuce. Grown just a few miles East of Edmonton in Bruderheim the lettuce for your sandwich will be fresh and inviting. Our staff swear it makes their sandwiches taste even better. We’ve been slowly working on the change but procuring seeds and of course growing the crop have meant only test trials at some of our locations. But before the end of February it will be a regular addition at every location. 9114-51 avenue, 12028-149 street, 10646-170 street, 3434-99 street .
