As of April 1, Calgary resident Norma Abraham was able to cross off owning a restaurant from her bucket list, after taking ownership of the Dockside Bar and Grill.
In November of last year, Abraham had nearly purchased a restaurant in the Caribbean. However, the owners had backed out when she got there.
“I ended up finding the Dockside. It’s got the water, just not salt water,” Abraham said.
“I came out to look at it, and I fell in love. I ran the numbers a million times, and decided I could make this work,” Abraham said.
She added, the water, the space, and the people were all selling factors.
After the owners of the Caribbean restaurant had backed out, Abraham realized she wasn’t ready to leave home, as she currently has a bookkeeping company in Calgary.
Although owning a restaurant has been a large learning curve, Abraham is committed to ensuring the patrons keep coming back to Dockside by keeping it clean, and friendly.
For previous owners of the Dockside Bar and Grill Helen and John Kittler changing ownership was an easy decision.
“My wife and I never had any goal of being in the restaurant and bar business,” Kittler said.
In 2013, the couple purchased the land and buildings after driving past the fire damaged property for nearly two years.
“I drove by it every day watching the weeds grow, the paint fading, it was disgusting,” Kittler said.
At the time, the Kittler’s had planned to have an operating partner for Dockside. However, they ended up running the business themselves despite not having restaurant ownership experience.
“We did our best, but the problem was we were running the marina, and the ice cream store it was just too much for two people,” Kittler said.
He added that running a small business is difficult because of government regulations and minimum wage increases.
Moving forward, the Kittler’s will focus on adding new businesses spaces to the property in the near future.
“Now we can focus on other small businesses. We’re creating more opportunity. We’re approaching our business a different way,” Kittler said.
“Chestermere is a growing community, and the iconic Chestermere Landing location is changing with the times to remain a relevant and vital part of the City,” he added.
Hearing people’s stories of having their wedding at the Landing or having their first beer at the Dockside will always be a highlight for Kittler.
“The great thing about it was the number of people we have met, and the number of stories we have heard. There are 40 years of stories there,” he said.
Owning the Dockside Bar and Grill has been an enjoyable experience, and the Kittler’s are incredibly appreciative of the support the community has shown.
With Abraham taking over the daily operations of the Dockside Bar and Grill, the Kittler’s have more time to pursue creative endeavors.
