It’s a weekday afternoon at The Deli on Hanson Street, and it’s busy as usual.

Customers stand in line, some with sandwiches custom-made to their liking, others with the lunch special, a salad and/or any number of the specialty products, like meats and cheeses, the store carries.

Some take advantage of the seating area to chow down the lunch special. Others head out the door with purchases in-hand.

Amidst the bustle are owners Sandra and Ralph Wohlfarth, smiling and chatting with customers and staff, most of whom they have known for years, decades even.

The couple is getting set to bid the business farewell, with new owners taking over next Friday.

It will not be an immediate farewell though, as Ralph is set to stay on and help out until December.

There are no major changes happening to the staff either, and all those favourite items customers have come to know and love will remain.

Sandra “married” the business when she married Ralph, she says with a laugh in the shop’s office, seated at a desk across the room from the other desk where Ralph sits.

Ralph, meanwhile, has been in the business since he was about five.

In a “back-alley Quonset hut” on Dec. 13, 1968, Ralph’s parents opened up shop.

However, Whitehorse shoppers, anxious for something different, had been dropping by days before that in the hopes of getting their hands on specialty breads, meats and cheeses from Europe.

“There was nothing like it at the time,” Ralph told the Star, going on to explain why his parents opened the shop.

“They were missing all the goodies from home.”

Nearly half a century later, the business has been a proven success, but that’s not always how the banks saw it.

In 1969, Ralph’s parents received verbal confirmation from their bank that they’d get the funding to build a new storefront where The Deli currently sits.

With that verbal confirmation – and assuming the paperwork would follow – they got started on building, digging into the ground.

It was after that hole had been dug they were informed by the bank the loan would not be coming through after all.

Friends soon came together to lend the family the money they would need to at least fill in the hole.

Bank officials advised those friends to consider their contribution a gift because it wasn’t likely they’d make the money back through the shop.

“It’s nice to rub their (the bank’s) noses in it now,” Ralph says with a laugh.

As the years went on, the business and the building grew.

In 1974, the family was able to “build up.”

That was followed with a side addition in 1978 after the house next door was torn down. A further addition was later put on behind the building.

As Sandra says, the many phases it’s gone through mean there’s a lot of “nooks and crannies” in the building.

And that’s made for some great games of hide-and-seek for their own sons, nephews and niece.

Sandra recalls one particular game where she found a great hiding spot in the basement – only to soon hear the kids upstairs getting their hands on the shop’s jellybeans.

“Well, I guess the game is over,” she says she recalls thinking at the time.

As the kids grew up, they took on jobs at The Deli before moving on to their own careers elsewhere.

Over the years, Ralph and Sandra have also taken great joy watching the children of their customers grow up; first coming in with their parents and then as customers themselves.

It was on Jan. 1, 1997 that Ralph officially took over the business from his parents, with Sandra also coming on board.

Ralph had already been working there as manager after spending years in a variety of roles at the store.

That included some time in Germany learning how to make sausage as part of the Yukon Meat and Sausage arm of the business that’s run out of the lower part of the building.

While most of his working life had been at The Deli, Ralph spent some time at other jobs, but eventually came back to the shop.

Managing it at the time when his parents were trying to sell, Ralph and Sandra decided to take on ownership, and have continued to build on the success.

There’s a personal satisfaction that comes in running a business, the couple say.

They noted it might mean working more than 40 hours a week, but it also means doing things your own way.

Last weekend, for example, Sandra placed a sign on the door announcing a four-day long weekend on Canada Day, making staff at The Deli and Yukon Meat and Sausage very happy.

That’s not something you could do working for someone else.

And there’s a joy in working with the many customers they’ve come to know. In fact, many of the store’s products come from customers’ recommendations, Sandra says.

On more than one occasion, she’s put in an order at the suggestion of a customer who’s come in looking for something particular. If the initial order of the product sells, Sandra happily puts in the next order.

While they love their work, they’re also happy to pass it on and see it grow.

They’ve been thinking of retirement for some time, and thought they might hang onto the business long enough to celebrate it being in the family for 50 years.

They were aware that legacy would end with them, as their own children, nephews and nieces have pursued other careers, and have no interest in running the business.

When the chance to pass the business on to two enthusiastic entrepreneurs came a couple of years ahead of that, they decided it was time to take the opportunity.

In April, an informal conversation with Vienna Organ and Larissa Horvath got everything started, and they will formally take over ownership next Friday.

“Ralph and Sandra have built a legacy,” Horvath says, stressing she and Organ understand how special The Deli is to many Whitehorse residents.

With Horvath’s work in catering, Organ’s business background and the desire the two friends have to work together, owning and operating The Deli seemed like a perfect fit.

There will eventually be some changes down the road, but the two new owners plan to build on what the Wohlfarths have created over the years, keeping the popular features of the shop.

Customers, they emphasized, will still be able to get their favourite lunch time specials, and Yukon Meat and Sausage goods will continue to be available.

“We’re really excited about the butcher shop,” Horvath says, noting they did not realize just what a big business is involved.

Along with the store and Yukon Meat and Sausage – with butchers Jurgen Haas and Chris Jordan at the helm – making meats for the store, there’s also the preparation of sausage for local hunters and farmers who bring in their meat.

“That grows every year,” Sandra says.

And there’s the catering side of things with party trays of The Deli’s goods made to order.

With plans to expand the catering side of things at The Deli, Organ and Horvath are excited for the possibilities into the future.

While much will stay the same, they expect to phase in changes as they build on the business.

“There will be renovations,” Horvath says, noting though that they’ll be done in a way that allows for The Deli to stay open.

The renovations will allow for a full espresso bar with pastries at the shop, as the retail side of the business is condensed with new product offerings.

A change to the name noting the new offerings, while staying true to its beginnings is also planned, as it will be called The Deli, Café and Eatery.

“We want to create an experience,” Horvath says, as she trys to describe what she and Organ envision.

Sandra is quick to interject, smiling as she says, “You want to bring it out of the ’70s.”

Horvath then describes it as a more current European flavour they hope to bring, again while staying true to the lunch spot and shop so many Whitehorse residents hold dear.

Ralph also notes his and Sandra’s excitement over the possibilities, acknowledging that after so many years in the business, “you start to stagnate.”

Both are pleased to have Horvath and Organ excited to take over and implement some new ideas. As they say, the two women have the energy for it.

Like Sandra, the new owners acknowledge running the business will be more than a 40-hour a week job.

“It’s so worth it,” Organ says, adding they are grateful for the opportunity.

While Horvath and Organ are ready to take things over, Sandra and Ralph are set to wind things down.

Sandra laughs as she talks of her plans: “I’m going to the cabin ASAP.”

While Ralph and Sandra have no plans to move out of the territory, they have lengthened what was planned to be a three-week trip to Italy in the new year.

As for how long that’s been extended, they haven’t decided yet.