LITTLE CURRENT—Norm and Donna Abotossaway have been enjoying success with their “more than just a convenience store” D&N Variety located across the street from the TD Bank in Little Current. Recently, the couple have added a sausage cart to their repertoire and now, an e-scooter dealership that has been going gangbusters over the past couple of weeks.

“We’re just going, D&N Mobility scooters,” said Mr. Abotossaway when asked about the name of the new business. He’s had a lot more on his mind than the name. “D&N Variety and Mobility scooters,” he laughs. 

When asked how he came upon his latest entrepreneurial venture, Mr. Abotossaway had noticed Keith Nahwegahbow outside the variety store with a fully enclosed e-scooter.

“I saw all the attraction it caused,” said Mr. Abotossaway. “It was getting so much attraction and then I sat there and said ‘there’s got to be something here because they’re going all the way to Sudbury to buy them, right? And the thing is? If something goes wrong with them, you have to take them all the way back to the centre in Sudbury. So, there’s another guy in AOK. And he’s got one. Now, he left it outside all winter, and he cooked the batteries.”

One key factor with the e-scooters is that they need to be kept inside during the frigid winter temperatures. 

“So, he had to go purchase more batteries, put them in there, and then he still couldn’t get it going,” recalled Mr. Abotossaway. “When my guys came and dropped off the first load I took them out there and by the time I knocked on the door and he got off his couch by the time he put his shoes on, my guy had already had it fixed for it him.”
“So, I said to myself, well, there’s got to be a market here,” said Mr. Abotossawy. He contacted the Canadian cpmpany Avvenir, and said, ‘well, listen, I’m interested in becoming a dealership for you guys’.”

Some back and forth with information ensued. “They came back to me and said ‘you are more than welcome to become a dealership’ and next thing you know,I have my first load. I only got about four machines and I sold them all.”

After that initial testing of the waters, Mr. Abotossway knew he was onto a winner.

The whole experience was so rewarding, Mr. Abotossaway decided to reach out to Emmo, the biggest mobility and e-bike distributor in Canada. “So, now I’m a dealership for them as well.”

Mr. Abotossaway isn’t stopping there. He is now also bringing in a line of electric motorcycles.
“Hopefully, it’s good, and next week, I’ll be getting these little motorbikes,” he said.

People can order the e-scooters and bikes online, and as a dealer, Mr. Abotossaway still gets his commission on the sale, but he strongly advises against that route.

“They can,” he said. “I’m not telling them they can’t. But you know you’re better off for me because we’ll be keeping delivery costs down. If they go and order online, then it’s a thousand dollars for delivery. I’m just saying, you will probably save a thousand dollars.”

Mr. Abotossaway’s product mix is amazing, with something for just about anybody. He demonstrates a collapsible scooter that folds up to a very compact package. “The unit weighs about 70 pounds,” he said. The range on that unit is only about 15 kilometres, but that’s enough to bomb around town. The pace is sedate, only around nine kilometres per hour, but that is faster than walking.
The red e-scooters that are fully enclosed do not require licencing or insurance, but Mr. Abotossaway says he suggest buyers get insurance anyway. “I am letting people know you’re better off getting liability insurance, just in case you unfortunately run into a pedestrian, or somebody bangs into you or whatever.”

Mr. Abotossaway is planning on offering a safety course next year. “I believe I will be the first one in Ontario to offer a safety course,” he said.

The e-scooter dealer notes that he isn’t just interested in making a sale, in fact, he has talked some elders with limited means out of buying one right away. “It’s not always about making a sale,” he said. “It’s about taking care of our elders.”

 “I said to myself, well out of 100 elderly, there’s only about 10 on Facebook, so I decided to get out and promote the business,” he said. “I took one of the units, one of the freedom cabs, to West Bay (M’Chigeeng) powwow. On Sunday, I went to the Mindemoya Foodland parking lot and did the same thing.”

The Expositor is also an avenue for getting the word out. See the advertisement  in last week’s edition of the newspaper for more details.