A staple in the Pensacola community and a local family business is closing its doors — at least for now.
Shoreline Foods International Market and Deli on Main Street was damaged by a fire Friday night. It welcomed customers with open arms for decades.
The two sisters, Katerina Vatsolakis and Chrisoula Vatsolakis-Jernigan, who still run the business say they have a long road ahead of them. But they’re grateful to the community for the outpouring of love and support.
Everyone who knows about Shoreline knows it’s known for a multitude of things from sandwiches and salads to authentic Greek olive oil.
“My dad introduced olive oil to this community, to the Gulf Coast area and the surrounding areas in 2004,”Chrisoula says. “He would import it from our families’ trees. And from there the demand just grew.”
The Vatsolakis family moved to Pensacola from Greece in the late 90s and began the family business. These two sisters began working alongside family at just nine and 13 years old.
“We worked,” says Katerina. “We were out here. I was standing on a crate behind the register and they were older. They got dropped off by the bus right here.”
As the years passed, the business continued to blossom. Their dad taught them to work hard.
“He sacrificed a lot,” says Katarina. “Both of our parents did.”
“As we got older, we understood how important and what it’s provided our family,”Chrisoula says.
The family even served the community during one of the most difficult times for our area after Hurricane Ivan hit, opening the very next day.
“We had a line of customers out the door and then we were here,” Katarina says. “We were here providing for the customers for the workers also.”
“I remember my mom filling water buckets and putting them in the freezer for ice,” says Chrisoula. “And we wanted to be able to take care of the community.”
In July, their brother who was over the business since 2016 stepped away.
“When I heard that if I didn’t take on this responsibility with my sister that the store would close it devastated me,”Chrisoula says. “I knew I had to at least do something.”
So the sisters jumped into action, making repairs on the roof, redoing the parking lot and fixing the air conditioning — among other things.
“We reached a point where we thought everything was okay,” says Chrisoula. “And then this.”
The Pensacola Fire Department received a call Thursday night. When crews got there they went straight to the kitchen, which the city says appears to be where the fire began.
The city says signs point to an electrical problem from an appliance they had on site.
“We worked so hard,” Chrisoula says. “We worked so hard at the beginning.”
The sisters say they don’t know where to start just yet. But they say they have lots of work to do to get the business back up and running.
Dozens of customers came by saddened by the temporary closure. Others flooded the business’s Facebook page with uplifting messages.
“It makes me want to fix the deli and want to keep this place alive and still be here for customers,” saysKatarina. “It makes you feel good. It makes me proud of my parents, that’s for sure.”
When they’ll reopen? Well, there’s no timeline on that just yet.
You can continue to get the rest of their supply of olive oil from Serenity Salon in Gulf Breeze at 3331 Gulf Breeze Parkway 32563.
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Source: weartv