Sault bartender realizes her dream of business ownership
A long-time Sault Ste. Marie bartender is teaming up with a local restauranteur on a new business venture.
With the reconstruction of the downtown section of Queen Street to begin soon -- and some new businesses setting up shop nearby – Becky Sawyer and Blake Richards said the time was right to turn their long talked-about idea into reality.
With only days to go before the grand opening of The Dive Gastro Pub, the pressure is on to finish renovations that have been ongoing since the beginning of April.
Sawyer is a longtime presence on the local food and beverage scene.
“We’re looking at 26 years I have been in this industry,” she said.
“I started when I was 18 and it’s definitely something I have a hard time walking away from. I enjoy the people, I enjoy the public -- I enjoy the chaos and organized mess of it all.”
Richards is another well-known name in the local restaurant community. He was co-owner of Low & Slow, which was the last business to occupy the space that will now house The Dive.
“Ten years ago we started with Low & Slow and kind of just jumped into it,” he said.
“Before that, no experience. Just kind of learned on the fly and it’s been a whirlwind.”
The Dive is located in the heart of downtown Sault Ste. Marie, where a number of changes are taking place – changes the owners are hoping will work in their favour.
“I think it’s definitely up and coming,” said Richards.
“You can see stuff starting to grow with the market next door here, Muio’s just got bought again. Stuff seems to be happening, Queen Street is being redone, which is amazing. So, hopefully it doesn’t hold us up too much, but it should be fine.”
o Download our app to get local alerts on your device
o Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
“We’ve all seen the decline in the downtown,” Sawyer said.
“With the city putting in as much effort as they have down the road, and all the things that are happening downtown right now, the hope is that it is going to be on the upswing and we are going to see a bigger boom downtown than we did before.”
The Dive Gastro Pub is already creating a buzz, as both grand opening nights this weekend are sold out.
The new pub will be open to the general public April 22.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump returns to his campaign facing a warning of jail time if he violates a trial gag order
Donald Trump on Wednesday will use a one-day break from his hush money trial to rally voters in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan, a day after he was held in contempt of court and threatened with jail time for violating a gag order.
Ontario woman surprised after 20-year-old fines suddenly tank credit score
An Ontario woman says that she was shocked when provincial fines from 20 years ago suddenly tanked her credit score last week, but the situation may not be as unusual as it seems, according to at least one debt expert.
Anger can harm your blood vessel function, study shows
Stress and anger can have a negative impact on cardiovascular health, studies have shown. New research points to just how the mechanism may work.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Newfoundland fisherman says police broke his leg during protest that delayed budget
Richard Martin is spending this year's fishing season on land after he says a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer broke his left leg in three places during a protest last month that shut down the provincial legislature.
A 98-year-old in Ukraine walked miles to safety from Russians, with slippers and a cane
A 98-year-old woman in Ukraine who escaped Russian-occupied territory by walking almost 10 kilometres (six miles) alone, wearing a pair of slippers and supported by a cane has been reunited with her family days after they were separated while fleeing to safety.
Will an 'out of sight, out of mind' cellphone policy make a difference in Ontario schools?
Ontario’s cellphone ban in schools has been met with mixed reaction, with some teachers concerned about constant policing of kids and experts applauding the change as necessary for student learning.
A Utah couple accidentally shipped their cat with an Amazon return. A week -- and 3 'miracles' -- later, they were on a plane to meet a stranger
The Amazon returns employee wasn't at work the day one of her colleagues at a California warehouse found a small, furry stowaway in a box mailed six days earlier from Utah. But Brandy Hunter got the call anyway.
Duelling protesters clash at UCLA hours after police clear pro-Palestinian demonstration at Columbia
Dueling groups of protesters clashed Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. Hours earlier, police burst into a building at Columbia University that pro-Palestinian protesters took over and broke up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school while inspiring others.