Resilient Syrian Entrepreneur Survives War, Now Must Pivot During Covid-19
DIEPPE – After going through tragedy due to war in his home country Syria, Hossam Sif Aldin’s new electronics accessories and repair shop HS Empire in Moncton also had to close due to Covid-19. But he’s now pivoted and moved to a larger space in Dieppe.
HS Empire reopened Saturday, October 3, in a 2,600 square feet space at 525 Regis St., offering electronics accessories and repair, as well as clothing, and international food items and giftware. Sif Aldin’s wife, Noha, is in charge of the clothing section.
Sif Aldin had opened HS Empire on 110 St. George St. in March, just a couple of weeks before the pandemic forced many businesses to close their storefront. He sold electronics accessories and offered repair services for cell phones, laptops and computers.
“It was so troublesome for me because I put everything I had in this store, and I didn’t get any income from the store, and each month I should pay expenses – rent, electricity, everything” he said.
“I can’t stay without any income. I had expenses, I had a lot of things to do. And no income for my family,” he said. “When we back to open, I had a lot of ideas in my mind.”
While he couldn’t take customers inside the store for about two and a half months, Sif Aldin offered free pick-up and delivery for electronics that need repair in the Greater Moncton area, as well as free appraisals. Customers can also order products they see on the business’ Facebook page to get it delivered on the same day.
Although that helped quite a bit, Sif Aldin said he was still concerned about the possibility of having to close again if a second wave of Covid-19 hits.
“How I can avoid this situation? I should put some groceries in my store. If something happens, God forbid, I have groceries. I don’t need to close again,” he said. “I watched that each store that has some groceries or food, they didn’t close. Because of that I decided to move to another store to be bigger, and put some groceries.”
The food being sold at HS Empire right now includes snacks and other dry goods from Guinea, Morocco, Syria, Canada and other countries, based on what his friends from those countries recommend as popular goods. They’re sourced from Toronto and Montreal.
Sif Aldin realizes his food and giftware selection isn’t as large as he wants it to be yet, “but what I have now it’s good for a start,” he said.
Sif Aldin’s entrepreneurial journey has been full of ups and downs. He had lost a daughter, as well as his home and business due to the war in Syria. But through it all he rebuilt over and over again. He and his family arrived as refugees in Canada in 2017.
He learned how to speak English, drove a taxi, and worked at Costco for a short stint to save up so he can open a business. Family friends Robin and Kevin MacDonalds helped him set up both the first and second shops.
With wife Noha also selling clothes sourced from Morocco, Turkey, Syria and elsewhere from home, Sif Aldin aims for HS Empire to eventually be a general store.
He chose to move to the Regis St. location because it’s in a commercial plaza “at the end of Moncton and the beginning of Dieppe.” Currently, he has six part-time staff at his shop.
If the store does well, he hopes to be able to open another shop to serve customers in other parts of the Greater Moncton.
Sif Aldin says he’s grateful for federal government programs during Covid-19, specifically the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.
“It helped me a lot with Covid-19, because I was closed, and they give me some money to pay my rent, my expenses,” he said.
He’s also grateful to the MacDonalds and customers who continue to support him. But his family has been his biggest supporter.
“If I was [successful at] something, the main reason is my family. My kids and my wife help me a lot,” Sif Aldin said.
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