How Curtis and Yaima Run A Shop That Promises To Help You Find Exactly What You’re Looking For 

I arrived at King’s Hidden Gems on a rainy Thursday to speak with Curtis Daigle and Yaima Molina. The store contained antiques and furniture from end to end, which is something Curtis prides himself on. “We make sure that the store is always full, and that we’re always changing things around,” says Curtis.

The store has been in operation for ten years. Curtis, who was always looking for projects to fiddle with, and items to fix, started it. At first, he brought his goods to the Farmer’s Market, then he started the Knights of Columbus Farmers Market and was the chairman for about half a year. After this, he found an opportunity to get his own space at RL Buy and Sell, where he and a buddy worked out a deal.

He stayed there for two years before finding the space on King Avenue. Other than a few assistants here and there, Curtis primarily ran things by himself for the first seven years. This was before forming a business partnership with Yaima Molina.

Yaima’s husband owns Danny’s Hotel, where both Yaima and Curtis worked. They formed a friendship and decided during COVID to turn that friendship into a partnership. And now it’s been three years of running things together, and things are going well. 

Yaima moved around different parts of Canada, before her, her husband and two kids set their sights on Bathurst. A city that she calls “charming, and safe.”

“You have everything you need in Bathurst,” says Yaima. “I didn’t speak French when I first arrived seven years ago, but I do now. As a mother of two kids, it gives them great opportunities to learn both English and French.”

Northern New Brunswick was once booming with industry, and Curtis says that now it’s small businesses keeping Bathurst alive, and that’s why it’s so important to be a part of the community and forge those important relationships.

“The community has supported us so much, so if we can help, we’re going to do it,” says Curtis. “If a new business is opening up and they need shelving or something simple, we’ll do it for them.”

He also mentions a bar opening in Miramichi that needed some inventory, and Curtis provided the best deals possible to help smooth the process of opening a business. 

Yaima says that the most important thing is having something special that people are looking for and are going to care for.

“The best feeling in the world is when someone comes in and says that’s the exact thing that my grandmother had when we were kids,” says Yaima, and Curtis agrees.

And because of their involvement in the community, and their ability to get people what they’re looking for at a good price. A lot of their inventory comes to them. People will call, or just pull up in front of the store and ask Curtis and Yaima to go through their stuff.

“We don’t market,” says Yaima. “We use Facebook Marketplace, and the rest is from traveling around or people talking about us.” Word of mouth is still a powerful marketing tool.

If you want to find some hidden gems, you can check out their Facebook page or visit them at 429 King Avenue in Bathurst.

Well, that’s it for another edition of the Northern Heat Report. The place you come to hear the stories that have not yet been discovered.