You know you're in a family business when the family dog wants to play fetch with you. Such is the case with Adria Travel, which was founded in 1959 and moved to its current location in Bloor West Village in 1971.
As she pets Riley, the resident Yorkshire terrier, owner Gloria Cavlovic recalls how her mother catered to her fellow Croatian immigrants. "We brought families over to Canada, and then their relatives came over, and then the next generation went back to Croatia to see family or go on vacation. That's how the business has thrived."
Adria's Croatian connections also account for its name, which riffs off the Adriatic Sea that laps up against the country's idyllic Mediterranean shoreline. Toronto's Croatian community, which is centred on the surrounding neighbourhood, still makes up much of its business. "We speak the language and know the country extremely well, so when people come here, they feel at home," Gloria says.
