One of the city’s most established stores was listed for sale yesterday, so it’s time to say goodbye to the merchants on the corner. The brothers who have stood guard there for decades say they plan to celebrate the store’s 70th anniversary later this year.
The store was founded in the 1960s in the small apartment district and then moved to Ásvallagäta in 1981.
“My brother is currently absent. He got a blood clot in his groin and is in hospital. His name is Gunnar Jónasson, we are a family business,” said Kristján Jónasson, a merchant in Kjötborg.
You guys have been here for years?
“Yes, I started here at the age of nineteen with my parents in 1981.”
The store is run by those brothers and they are extremely well liked by the residents of the area and even though they were looking for more.
How do you feel at this turning point, that the house has been put up for sale?
“Naturally, it’s always very strange, but it’s never the right time. Whether it’s three years ago when there were great difficulties or now. This is a heavy business and you understand that it has become hypermarketism as well. There are better prices in large stores. People may have children and it’s considerably cheaper to shop in large stores, you understand that,” he says, who is worried that the culture around the merchant on the corner will eventually die out in the coming years.
The brothers aim to close in style.
“We’re going to try to do this with a bit of flair. Try to end with a summer festival or something like we did in the old days. Everyone thinks we’re going to close tomorrow or something, but now it’s not quite right away. I’m not going to stop until a few months from now,” he says, counting on rejoicing in the fall when Kjötborg turns 70.
“It’s going to be a longing and a joy. It’s a lot of work to have a shop like this. People have to understand that. We’re not stopping today or tomorrow, so people relax a little. There are many people who think I’m going to lock up this week. Hopefully the shop will stay here.”
Customers made their way to the store today at this milestone. It saddens many to see the store behind.
Have you done a lot of shopping at Kjötborg?
“Yes, almost every day. It’s wonderful to have a merchant here on the corner. Those brothers, each other more wonderful,” said Kristinn Schram, a resident not far from Kjötborg.
“It’s just like losing your friends. It’s just a great sadness. Here you meet people and here they save everything that needs to be saved in relation to food and other things. If you are sick, they have brought the food to you,” said Anna Margrét Tryggvadóttir, who has been doing business at the store for twelve years.
“It’s going to be hard. It’s the old days that are disappearing. I don’t think these are the last merchants on the corner. These are born merchants and have been forever. I want to thank them for all the services they have provided to us, both to me and to people in the neighborhood. They have brought many things when there is illness or when you can’t go out because of the weather.”
