Humber College welcomed a new store to the campus family on Monday.
JJ Mart, a small family-owned business, set up shop on the main floor of the parking garage next to the residence buildings.
The name JJ Mart was chosen in honour of the owner’s kids.
Ning Ilano, is one of the owners of the newly opened JJ Mart at Humber College. Photo credit: Krishna Bhagnathsingh
Ning Ilano, co-owner of JJ Mart, said entrepreneurship was the right path for her.
She said that working in an office didn’t feel right to her and that she wasn’t too happy or had any energy, but felt that owning a store was for her.
Ilano quit her part-time job, which then led her to the decision to open and run her own business alongside her husband Eric IIano. They saw Humber College as the perfect place to start.
“With Humber College, I saw an opportunity here, so why not take it? There’s kids everywhere so it’s a good opportunity,” Ning said.
JJ Mart offers Filipino, Korean, and Japanese food and products such as shrimp-flavoured chips, Pocky ramen, and Skyflakes crackers.
JJ Mart provides a variety of snacks and food, such as, chips, Sky Flakes crackers and cornick. Photo credit: Krishna Bhagnathsingh
“The store is all about international food because here in Humber College, it’s more on diversity, so I want to introduce something different, more than what the other stores have,” she said.
Jaydon Bailey, an Architecture Technology student at Humber College, walks by the site of JJ Mart everyday and wanted to check the store out on the grand opening. Photo credit: Krishna Bhagnathsingh
Jaydon Bailey, an Architecture Technology student at Humber College, attended JJ Mart’s grand opening and said it’s nice for students in residence to have a convenient place to go to.
“It’s a cool little place to have, especially for people who live in the dorms,” Bailey said.
“In the campus, I’m pretty sure you don’t see that much diversity in foods there, so it’s nice to have something else there, it’s nice to have,” he said.
Julia Sequeira, a Journalism students at Humber College, shows her support for the new store by purchasing a couple of stationary items. Photo credit: Krishna Bhagnathsingh
Julia Sequeira, a Journalism student at Humber and a friend of the owner’s daughter, stopped by the new store to show support and pick up a couple of stationery items as well.
“Humber has an Indian food place, a jerk chicken place but no Asian snacks, so I’m happy they have those because I’m Asian and these things are a part of my culture,” Sequeira said
“They have a lot of Filipino snacks and I like it, it reminds me of home,” she said.