One of the city’s most popular spots for Latin American groceries and takeout food is experiencing outpourings of support after it was burned down over the weekend.
Emporium Latino, a Latin American grocery store owned by Cecilia and Mauricio de Espinoza and a Kensington Market staple since 1991, is the victim of a three-alarm fire that broke out at the two-storey building late Saturday night. The business, along with the family’s apartment located right above, has been severely destroyed as a result of the fire.
A GoFundMe page has been created to help the family and employees recover, and has already raised more than $17,000. According to the page, all of the funds will go towards the de Espinoza family to be used for themselves and to be distributed to their employees.
The organizer of Kensington Market’s Pedestrian Sundays, Patrick Morrison, posted an update on Instagram that the family’s doing well, although their cat, who was in the apartment at the time of the blaze, was lost.
“They fortunately have a place to stay with family, but it will take quite a while before we see them back in business though, the building is going to need to be rebuilt,” writes Morrison.
No other injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire continues to be under investigation.
