Two 25-year-old men, who are probably among the community’s youngest entrepreneurs, are the new owners of the Kamsack Subway restaurant.
Nirav Patel and Mitul Kakadiya, who are currently living in Yorkton, purchased the Subway from Dan Davidson at the end of November. Davidson had opened the 1,400-square foot restaurant on May 27.
Patel and Kakadiya, who had previously bought a Subway outlet in Tisdale, also purchased Davidson’s Subway restaurant in Langenburg. The two men, along with another partner, own the Dollar Store with More in North Battleford and with another partner own and operate a gas station and liquor store in 鶹Ƶ Carolina.
“We are currently in negotiations to purchase another Subway in this area,” Kakadiya said on Friday when he and his partner talked about their Kamsack acquisition.
Both men are originally from West India and came to Canada as foreign students in 2009 to study at Centennial College in Toronto. Patel was enrolled in business accounting, and Kakadiya, in mechanical engineering.
Still unknown to one another, the men moved to Regina in 2011 and found employment in their chosen fields, but each was interested in going into business for himself. They obtained their permanent residency status, they met and each one had said to the other that he was looking for a business to buy and if the other heard of one to let him know.
In June 2014, together they were able to purchase the Tisdale Subland.
“When we were looking for a business we discovered that Subway would be a good investment,” Kakadiya said. “My dream was to not work for others.”
“In Subway, management is easy,” Patel said.
The Subway system is good in that an owner need not be on the premises all the time, Kakadiya said, adding that they still must spend time visiting each of their businesses.
The Kamsack Subway, which employs four full-time and six part-time persons, has the same hours of operation as it had previously and the partners agree that among their plans is to become more involved with the community.
Kamsack was familiar to Kakadiya prior to their purchase because he had previously been to Duck Mountain Provincial Park, while Patel had made his first visit to the community during the purchase.
Both men are children of business families in India. Although farming was the Patel family business, the family also had interests in an ice industry, while Kakadiya’s family was involved in construction.
Regarding their non-work interests, Patel, whose wife Rina expects to give birth to their first child in June, said they enjoy spending time with friends, especially playing pool or watching movies.
Still single, Kakadiya will be taking a six-week trip home to India at the end of the year.
“We look for community support and we will try to help in the community in any way we can,” Kakakiya said.
The partners agreed to have a grand re-opening of the Kamsack Subway in March or April.