How do you disrupt a business model that hasn’t changed in decades?

Set Ivy Hanley loose on it.

That’s what Greg Hanley did in 2020. He had just purchased a four-acre property in St. John’s that included the old Brookfield Dairy building, a decrepit garage, stately old house and a shuttered convenience store. He was giving his new friend, Ivy Allan, a tour of the property. Greg outlined plans to reopen the convenience store using the typical beer, bread and lottery ticket model, because he needed a quick source of revenue.

Ivy had another idea. She suggested a convenience store that sells primarily local products. He agreed and Ivy set to it in the face of formidable challenges, including securing a business loan to kickstart the business.

“No one would look at me for two reasons,” said Ivy, who has a 75 per cent share in the store. “One, I was a post-divorcee bankrupt woman, so my credit was bad. Two, it was the middle of Covid, so no one was investing in anything. I got laughed at by every single loan department or grant program. So, we borrowed $30,000 from a private lender and then put 70 local producers on an agreement to be paid out in 30 days post delivery. And we said, we won’t let this fail.”

They opened Urban Market 1919 in November of 2020, featuring local producers prominently in their marketing. “And we were able to pay all our vendors within the first week, because the community response was so strong. And it’s just blown up from there.”

Keeping the priority on local, they built a roster of 350 local suppliers, roughly half of them food producers. The store offers meat products from local butchers, local seafood, bakery products, ready-to-eat meals, local crafts, art and textiles, books and so much more. In 2024, she opened a flower shop called Teresa James.

Urban Market 1919 and the flower shop now have combined gross income of $3 million per year. She recently added space at the back of the building to better manage inventory and a drive-through pickup window. Over the last two years, Ivy and Greg have sold the old Grouchy garage building, built a new 72-child daycare on the upper parking lot—now rented to the YMCA—and leased 7,000 square feet of space in the Brookfield building to Cove Bouldering, a rock-climbing gym. That’s a lot of space, but only a sliver of the total 65,000 square feet in the Brookfield building.

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