Muhanad Al Chalabi and his wife Aseel Al-Sinayyid received some very good news earlier this month.

The owners of the new Sowams Variety convenience store attended the town council meeting on Monday, May 2 and received approval for a Sunday sales license and victualling license.

Those licenses — in particular the victualling license — will allow Muhanad and Aseel to sell coffee and, much to the delight of local youngsters, Slush Puppies and ice cream, at their neighborhood store. 

The approval from the council also served as an unofficial finish line for the local husband and wife, who have spent more than a year working to open the Sowams Road shop. 

"It was great," Muhanad said of receiving the council's approval. "It was amazing. All the work we put into it … it was all worth it."

Muhanad and Aseel purchased the property a few years back — it had previously been a dry cleaning business — and began the arduous task of renovating the building to house a convenience store. Throughout the process they encountered hurdles, but in mid-April it appeared that they were finally ready to open their doors to the public.

Just a day after hanging an "open" sign on the front door, Muhanad and Aseel received a call from the town clerk. She said the store was not permitted to sell ice cream, coffee or Slush Puppies. 

"I had just spent $15,000 on the equipment," said Muhanad, who had already received proper permits from the Rhode Island Department of Health. 

A neighbor to the store had contacted the town and complained. Later, that same neighbor, Mohamed J. Freij and his wife Suzanne G. Tedeschi-Freij of 326 Sowams Road, sent a letter to the town council. It stated, in part, "We have invested over $500k into our house since we purchased it in 2003 and that decision to buy this house was based on neighborhood condition at that time, now this new business owner is investing close to that amount to turn this neighborhood upside down to fit his interest …"

Mr. Al Chalabi and Ms. Al-Sinayyid said they have made marked improvements to the property since purchasing it years ago and had no intentions of disrupting the neighborhood. The building at 305 Sowams Road has been completely renovated, they said, and there is a new parking lot. 

The town council listened to Ms. Al-Sinayyid's plea during the May 2 meeting and also recognized a large crowd of people who appeared to be interested in the issue. 

"I looked out and saw the crowd," said council president June Speakman. 

She asked how many in the crowd were there to speak about Sowams Variety. The hands shot up. 

The council vice president Kate Weymouth leaned over to Ms. Speakman and asked her to ask the crowd how many were in favor of granting Ms. Al-Sinayyid the two licenses. She did just that and all the hands rose into the air again. 

At the meeting, no one spoke against the request.

Meanwhile, the town solicitor said the same neighborhood business zone where the Sowams Variety is located used to host a different convenience store and a caterer/restaurant.

The council voted 5-0 to approve the two licenses, and that's when the hugs began.

"A couple people came up and thanked us," said Ms. Speakman. "They were very nice and very happy. It was one of the nicest moments… It really was very wonderful."

Mr. Al Chalabi said emotions ran high that night at the council meeting. 

"We were overwhelmed," he said.

A day later, Mr. Al Chalabi and Ms. Al-Sinayyid were busy at Sowams Variety, stocking the shelves, brewing hot coffee, and scooping ice cream for happy young customers. 

The new convenience store offers a wide variety of products — there is fresh fruits and vegetables, locally-made products from the Hope & Main kitchen in Warren, and international food that Mr. Al Chalabi and his wife enjoy. 

There are also convenience store staples, such as bread, milk, potato chips, and plenty of candy.

The store has already become a favorite spot for students at nearby Sowams School and Hampden Meadows. Despite the cold wet weather last week, some students still pedaled to the local store to stock up on ice cream cones, bags of chips and blue raspberry Slush Puppies.