A popular Laclie Street eatery is now operating under new ownership.
After owning and running the business for more than 12 years, Carol and Alan Bayne have sold Friend’s Diner to Brittany Bezemer and her mother, Cecilia Butler.
“Before the last lockdown, Al didn’t feel comfortable keeping the business,” Bezemer explained. “When he mentioned to my mom that he was interested in selling, she said 'I’ll buy it.'”
The new owners are no strangers to the diner or its customers; Bezemer and Butler both have worked at the local restaurant as servers for multiple years.
“We know this business,” Bezemer said. “This is something we are comfortable doing despite never owning a business before.”
Bezemer believes in the restaurant’s longevity because of its popular comfort food and loyal customers.
“We have a great atmosphere here,” she said. “Everybody is literally friends here. Even new people come as strangers and leave as friends.”
The recipe for success at Friend’s won’t be changing, Bezemer says.
“We are keeping everything exactly the same,” she said. “We have a very good atmosphere here with both our staff and customers and we don’t want to disrupt that.”
A possible minor expansion could be in the works in the distant future, however, Bezemer says there are no plans in motion at this time.
The community has been nothing but supportive since the mother and daughter duo took over the business.
“They are happy we are keeping the doors open,” she said. “Especially because we are first Nations we are seeing more of our Native community and family members coming to support.”
The community support gives Bezemer confidence that the business will continue to thrive, even in the pandemic.
“We are so thankful that people are coming out to support us,” she said. “Some people are still scared to come out and eat, but lots of people are still ordering take-out. It’s been really helpful.”
Another great resource for the new owners is former owner Alan Bayne, who plans to stay on board as a cook and server.
“There is a lot of stuff that we don’t know,” Bezemer said. “Alan has been more than supportive and helpful for us.”