Toronto is filled with many different junctions of different cultures. In East Chinatown located at 617 Gerrard Street East, there is an ice cream shop named Wong’s Ice Cream and Store. Wong’s Ice Cream is an artisanal small-batch ice cream shop that creates original Asian-fusion flavoured ice creams. Along with homemade Asian-inspired ice cream the store sells, chocolates, art pieces such as postcards, and more. This location has become popular among the Asian community and the Riverdale, Riverside, and Leslieville communities in Toronto, as it is the only business of its kind in these neighbourhoods.
The owner of the shop, Ed Wong, a 54-year old Chinese Canadian, opened the doors in June 2017. He speaks proudly of his business.
“For me, it’s a place where I’m able to share a part of who I am and my personal history with others.”
As the years go by, the business has gradually grown with Wong’s gaining regular customers. “We like to think that we’ve become an integral part of these communities, providing a warm and friendly space for people to gather and meet,” says Wong.
The original Asian fusion flavoured ice creams attract customers. “Many of the ingredients we use and the flavours we create reach into my Cantonese culture, whether that means using salted duck egg, Ovaltine, black sesame or jasmine tea in our ice creams. It’s a way for me to express myself to a wider audience.”
Adapting to a new reality
As COVID-19 continues to spread, safety regulations have been enforced all over Toronto. Wong’s Ice Cream has put in many safety precautions to provide a safe space for employees and customers as they continue to stay open during the pandemic. They have placed signs outside that allows a limited number of people in at a time, a change from the usual crowd. There is a mandatory sanitize station, mandatory mask-wearing, and social distancing stickers placed on the ground. Most of the time there is a lineup on the street during rush hours.
Andrea Bonomo, an elementary school teacher, is a regular customer at Wong’s. He has been a loyal customer since opening and continued to make frequent visits through the pandemic.
“I go to Wong’s because I love supporting small local businesses, especially food businesses that are unique.” Bonomo says he thinks that Wong’s has adapted well during COVID-19, he says, “I like that they only let in a small number of customers at a time.” To keep small businesses afloat, regular customers like Bonomo are crucial during this uncertain time we live in.
Along with the rules that every business has put in place as a response to COVID-19, Wong’s has also adapted to the pandemic by starting to take online pre-orders with curb-side pickups, stopped serving scoops of ice cream to avoid any unnecessary handling of open food between employees and customers. It has also gone cashless. This, limiting unnecessary contact to provide safety to all.
Madeline Kennedy, is a 19-year old full-time student worker who has been working at Wong’s since its opening. She says COVID-19 brought new challenges when it came to working with customers. “For the most part, customers were agreeable. There were a decent number of people who forgot masks in their cars or forgot to put them on when they came in, but were usually fine when we reminded them.
It sounds selfish, but our priority is really supposed to be protecting ourselves in a situation like this. If somebody didn’t have a mask we’d just tell them we couldn’t serve them,” says Kennedy.
Working throughout the pandemic, Kennedy sanitizes high touched areas regularly throughout the day and deep cleans at the end of her shift. She always puts her and the other employees’ and customers’ health as her top priority while working.
The impact of COVID-19
Small and medium-sized businesses have struggled the most and put in the most dedication to their businesses throughout the pandemic according to a recent survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Due to the seasonality of ice cream shops, in March 2020, when the lockdown first happened, business for Wong’s slowed down.
“We do a far greater percentage of our annual business during the warm months so when things slowed down in the spring, the magnitude of the effect was greater.” Thankfully, Wong’s has had another successful summer despite how business was at the beginning of lockdown.
Recent research has found that racism and anti-Asian discrimination and assaults have increased significantly since COVID-19 — a novel coronavirus believed to have originated in China — began spreading around the world. While Wong says he has not experienced any overt racism stemming from the pandemic, although he says, “I know of colleagues that have had that experience.” Wong also says he is aware that he and his business, located in Toronto’s East Chinatown, could be a target, but he wouldn’t say that it’s something he is afraid of encountering.
Wong’s Ice Cream and Store continues to gradually grow into a well known Asian-owned business in Toronto. As they overcome the pandemic, Wong, the employees, and the customers continue to look on the bright side of things, improving their store every way they can and continuing to grow the relationship Wong’s Ice Cream and Store has with the community. Wong says, “I think we’re lucky that our community and customers are really decent, caring and bright-minded people.”