“Happiness is not in money, but in shopping.” — Marilyn Monroe
While I was in Canada, my son Zubair took me to Iqbal Foods to do some grocery shopping. I found that the saying, “Happiness is not in money, but in shopping,” is cent percent correct. I was delighted to see that under one roof I could find hundreds of products from India and other South Asian countries.
To my surprise, there is an interesting story of hardship, dedication and service hidden within the existing store, as the founder is a migrant award winner in this business.
The story is as follows:
Iqbal Malek came to Canada from India in 1971 with just $7 in his pocket. He worked long hours at various jobs, starting off in Barrie, Ontario, as a stock clerk, newspaper boy, dishwasher, shipper and receiver, packer, factory labourer and more. He then worked for six years for Laura Secord making chocolates while going to school in the evening to learn English. He was setting himself up for bigger things.
By 1984, he opened his first business, a tuck shop in an apartment building. His second business was a Pakistani/Indian restaurant on Gerrard Street in Toronto.
Over the years, he noticed that consumers from his Muslim community were looking for Halal-certified groceries, poultry and meat — halal means “permissible” in Arabic. He did a lot of research, met manufacturers and started selling halal products wholesale, store to store. The growing interest in his products led Malek to enter the retail side of the grocery business, opening Iqbal Halal Foods.
It’s 25+ years later, and Iqbal Halal Foods has more than 200 employees in its wholesale division and four supermarkets, one in midtown Toronto, one in Mississauga, Scarborough and Ajax. They are opening a fifth supermarket location in Shorncliffe.
The CEO Iqbal Malek received the prestigious RBC TOP 25 Canadian Immigrants Award for his outstanding work as a Canadian Immigrant and for becoming a beacon of positive change in the country.
Apart from Iqbal Foods, shopping in the following stores was also enjoyable and memorable:
- Walmart
- Dollarama
- Fresh Co
- Costco Wholesale
My grandsons Hamza and Huzaifa are busy shopping.
I, Mohammed Ifteqaruddin, Badge # 140948, Technical Advisor Mechanical Service, Ras Tanura Refinery, along with my son Zubair and grandchildren Hamza and Huzaifa had fun shopping for toys, ice cream and chocolates.
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” — Charles M. Schulz
I hope the above information and pictures will inspire Aramco Expat readers. They can also plan a visit when in Canada.