We Gave a Phone Stand, They Gave Us Homegrown Vegetables

We gave a customer a phone stand. Customers give us vegetables they grew themselves. At Fosetter, our ginseng and dried-goods shop in Montreal's Chinatown, the giving goes both ways.

A phone stand for our tenth anniversary

Carmen packed a phone stand into a small red box at the counter, for one of our customers, an auntie.

"Auntie, it's our tenth anniversary, so here's a phone stand for you. This is our way of thanking our customers for ten years of support."

"You can put your phone on it, OK? Then you can video-call your grandkids. No need to hold the phone."

And she didn't stop there.

"We just got some new red dates in, really nice ones. I'll give you an extra bag."

What comes back

The gifts travel the other way too. Carmen says this is one of the things that moves her most about running a storefront.

"When harvest season comes, my workbench and the shop get all kinds of things from aunties and friends. Vegetables they grew at home, fresh vegetables and fruit. Aiya, I'm so touched. Sometimes I'm really, truly touched."

"I almost forgot, the desserts they make are so good. No worse than what you'd buy in a shop."

Wholesale never gave her this.

"In a storefront, you get this. With wholesale, or other kinds of business, you never come into contact with it. You see your customers bring their feelings to you, an emotional exchange. That's what really moves me about having a shop."

Always full weight

Carmen's own way of looking at it is simple.

"What we give our customers, it has to be full weight. Full weight. And they're all repeat customers. So we're very grateful to our customers."

Our dried goods and Canadian ginseng are at the counter, and online with shipping within Canada.

Come by Fosetter at 78 Rue De La Gauchetière Ouest and say hello to Carmen.