Local Business
The pursuit of WOW! in Winnipeg
By Derek Gagnon
Showing off what 529 is famous for. F
or many years, the Winnipeg restaurant scene con- sisted of either local mom-and-pop shops or large scale chains, with no middle ground offered. Doug Stephen saw that there was a niche there
for the taking: something that offered the same great food that the local restaurants provided, while working under an umbrella dedicated to outstanding ambience, service and dining. Doug, together with partners Janet Cunningham and Jim Armstrong, founded WOW! Hospitality. Doug has been dealing with food since his youth and
went into the hospitality business after leaving university, getting his start with the Old Spaghetti Factory and Te Keg. It was at this time that he met future partners Janet and Jim, and eventually joined with them in 1995 to start what is now WOW!. Janet and Doug had already partnered on dinner theatre locations, Celebrations, in Winnipeg and Jubilations, in Alberta. Te name for WOW! stemmed from a conversation be-
tween Jim and Doug, when Jim pointed out that Doug was reading a book by Tom Peters called Te Pursuit of WOW!: Every Person’s Guide to Topsy-Turvy Times. Doug noted that
20 • Fall 2016
what he wanted to do was to wow people when they came through the door. “We now have what we call the Seven Pillars of WOW!,” said Doug. “If we don’t follow those seven pillars, we’re probably not
going to achieve what we want to achieve,” he added. “It hasn’t all been home runs: we’ve had some successes and we’ve had some challenges along the way. When those hap- pen, we regroup and come up with really interesting ideas for Winnipeg. “Te goal was not to have a chain of the same restaurant. It was to have a regional chain of loose entrepreneurial spir- its to help us develop dining, hospitality or entertainment experiences for the public at large. “In our own way, we want to wow people with what we
have,” said Doug. “We can never ever forget that service is such a key component of that. You’ve got the concept and the food, but you also have to deliver the service. People in our industry evaluate you every single time they visit. Tey’re coming in based on reputation and brand recogni- tion, and it’s up to you to deliver on a consistent basis.”
The Hub
Photo by Jerry Grajewski,
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