Nortown Foods

After the second world war, Michael Klein, a holocaust survivor, came to Canada to start a new life. He tried various jobs before finding work as a butcher. In January of 1960, with the encouragement of his wife Agnes, he opened the door to Nortown Meat Market, a small butcher and fish shop in the Upper Village.

Nortown is truly a family business. Early on, Mike’s wife Agi, who was not only a driving force in the business, also worked at the store as a bookkeeper and cashier. While growing up, and going through school, all three of Mike’s children worked part-time in the stores. In 1982, Brian joined his dad, Mike, full-time in operating the Nortown stores. In 1990 Mike’s daughter Marilyn established So Delicious Inc., a manufacturer of premium prepared foods. Since then Marilyn joined the family business and now oversees the production of all Nortown prepared foods. This division now produces over 200 products.

More than fifty years later, the company is still being operated with the same underlying philosophy, and has grown into one of the most respected specialty food retailers in the city. Nortown’s customer base includes the children and grandchildren Mike and Agi’s original patrons.