Meadowridge Variety owners retire after a decade serving St. Marys

Miriam and RT Ryu have retired as the owners of Meadowridge Variety in St. Marys.

By Galen Simmons

Last week, anyone who stopped in at Meadowridge Variety to top up their tank, grab a drink or buy their weekly lotto ticket may have noticed some new faces behind the counter.

In a post to the St. Marys Life Facebook page July 28, longtime store owners Miriam and RT Ryu announced they were retiring and stepping down as the business’ owners. In the post, they expressed how much they enjoyed getting to know the community over the past decade and thanked customers for their loyalty and business. They also asked their customers to welcome the variety store’s new owner, Dhruv Patel.

Somewhat to the Ryus’ surprise, the post garnered more than 470 likes and more than 120 comments, with commenters expressing their thanks and best wishes for the former owners’ retirement.

“Congratulations on your retirement! You will both be missed at the store. Hope you enjoy some well-deserved down time,” one commenter posted.

“Congratulations to you and RT. You will be truly missed; we hope to see more of you around the neighbourhood!” another commenter said.

For the Ryus, their retirement comes after long careers running businesses, first in Hamilton before the couple moved to St. Marys to take over Meadowridge Variety from a family connection. Miriam and RT Ryu worked tirelessly to keep the variety store running over the past decade, working seven days a week from open until close for the majority of their tenure as owners.

“The two of us worked from morning until close for seven or eight years,” RT Ryu said.

“Only on Jan. 1 we closed,” Miriam Ryu added. “Here and there, when my daughter graduated, that’s when we had a helper, but otherwise it was just us. And then for the last three or four years, I had my helper coming to help us, but only two or three days a week. We live with my parents, so we had to take care of my parents also. So, she came to help them and to help at the business.”

As one might imagine, the Ryus are retiring so they can take a break from their hectic work schedule and spend more time with each other and family.

But even after officially retiring, when the couple returned to the store for their interview with the Independent a few days later, Miriam Ryu couldn’t help herself but to open doors for customers, some of whom greeted her by name, while her husband picked up a few pieces of trash from around the building.

After working as hard as they have for as long as they did, retirement doesn’t come easy.

“For the past 10 years, (RT) would get up at 5:30 a.m. to go to work and then during the daytime, I would work, and then in the nighttime, he would come back,” Miriam Ryu said, adding their work schedule prevented the couple from spending much time with each other.

“You know, this morning, I enjoyed a coffee with him. Yesterday, too; it’s been since Monday when we handed over the business.”

The Ryus say they’ll miss interacting with their customers every day, especially the kids, to whom Miriam Ryu said she loved handing out lollipops and candy when they stopped in with their parents or on their own.

“I loved seeing their laughter and how when they’re happy, they jump,” she said. “ … We have elderly customers too and we all love each other.”

“It’s been really good,” RT Ryu added. “No issues at all over the 10 years. The customers I like, and I like making everybody laugh.”

While they’re now retired, Miriam and RT Ryu will remain fixtures in town. Taking after her father, an avid and well-known gardener in town, Miriam Ryu said she plans to continue tending to the gardens on the variety store property to ensure they remain bright and cheery for all her former customers and the new owner.

The Ryus are also considering taking a trip back to their home country of South Korea to visit family there. While they last visited two-and-a-half years ago, before that, it had been nearly two decades since they had seen their family there.

“I just want to thank everybody,” Miriam Ryu said. “Thank you and I’d love for them to come and say hello to me. A big thank you to everybody.”

Congratulations on your retirement, Miriam and RT. It’s well-deserved!