Potraviny Bušovce: a grocery store with good vibes

“I remember my dad always saying this building has huge potential,” says Tatiana Istocyova, manager of Potraviny Bušovce, a grocery store in the village of Bušovce in northern Slovakia. Her father, Jozef Ištocy, has been running another store in the town of Spišská Bela since 1997, and had set his sights on this building, convinced that, sitting on a main road in Bušovce, and connecting to other populated areas, it could be a great spot to expand his family business.

Jozef wasn’t wrong. When they bought the property and turned it into a new grocery store, including a bakery and a coffee corner, with the support of a business loan from ČSOB, guaranteed by the EIF under the EU’s Investment Plan for Europe, they didn’t really expect the impact it was going to have. For the local community, the store, that opened in the summer of 2021 became a convenient shopping option, allowing them to pick up basic goods from the corner, including fruit and vegetables, fresh pastries, even some toys for kids - a luxury they didn’t have in the past. “If we don’t have something, we’ll make sure we have it next week,” says Tatiana, who runs the new store. But it also constitutes a meeting point, attracting locals to the coffee corner: “To be honest, we didn’t expect this at all. People meet and hang out here now and older ladies even bring home-baked cake to offer us! In a sense, it has actually changed some people’s lives, bringing life to the village. It’s not only easier to buy groceries, it’s also a social meeting point,” she explains.

“My mum always taught me to do work with love and put passion into it – that’s what she did with our first store. We did the same with the second store and it just worked out. Of course it’s a lot of work, it’s still growing, but we have strong clientele. It’s really nice to see people being cheerful and even grateful. That’s an important part of our business. We insist on treating people well. You never know what mood they might be in but we want them to have a good day when they come in.”

Tatiana had initially had a very different career in mind, chasing the dream of professional hockey and playing in Sweden. Injuries put an end to that however, and she had to reconsider her options. “I’m very glad she came back,” says her father. “There’s lots of work to do.” Tatiana, too, is more than happy with the way things have turned out, integrating into the family business, working with people every day, and putting her heart into her job. Are there any more plans on the horizon? “There are many ideas in my dad’s head, but we don’t have time for them right now,” she adds, testament to the long hours the whole family puts in every day.