Downtown Buzz News from the Downtown Winnipeg Business Improvement Zone SPOTLIGHT


Grey Owl Coffee & Pub


Hue Shoe Repair Located at 413 Graham Avenue


Grey Owl Coffee & Pub Located at 272 Main Street


A


s a longtime Parlour Coffee barista, Bryan Goertz didn’t have to look far for inspiration to start his own coffee shop – nonetheless, he did.


“I didn’t feel the need to perfect something that’s already been perfected,” says Goertz, complimenting the many


successful independent coffee shops around the city. He did, however, see room for a truly transitional space,


that goes from morning to night seamlessly. While visiting friends in London and Amsterdam, he


found himself drawn to some similar haunts for spending his time – favourites like White Label Coffee and Scandi- navian Embassy in Amsterdam. “I was thinking I was going to learn web development or


something like that,” says Goertz, of his time away. “But I would just go do a day’s work at a coffee shop or pub. “It’s amazing how universal this kind of specialty coffee


is. You can see an espresso machine brand and think ‘Oh, this is a place that probably cares about coffee.’” Even outside of the looser liquor and food laws, Goertz


found the rhythm of a comfortable space to caffeinate people and then to meet over a drink made sense in a Canadian setting – even with more stringent restrictions applied. “I kind of took what I saw in Europe and smashed it into


one. I love pubs, and I love coffee shops. And I thought, ‘there’s no reason to not put these together.’” Perhaps the first thing to distinguish Grey Owl Coffee from its predecessors is its departure from bright white


finishes that are more conducive to the daytime. Te Main Street space features rich, textured navy walls,


a lengthy bar topped with black hard-surface counter, and sturdy wooden chairs. Te space has a mid-century, Mad Men-esque appeal, setting it apart from its contem- poraries. Fireside Design, a local design studio and friends of


Goertz’s, are responsible for the aesthetic, which sets the tone for the transitional role he had in mind for Grey Owl. “Tey sort of read my mind and put it into material,” he


says. “It’s a simple transition – you feel like you could be just as comfortable with a pint or a coffee or a small meal.” While they’re testing menu items and evening hours,


Grey Owl has found early adopters for its full-day offering, and its shareable, more extensive small plates menu for dinner service. During lunch, professionals can dip in for delicious veg-


gie bowls or a sandwich without taking an extended break. “Once we can say, ‘Hey, we’ve got food’ before the Jets


game or theatre or something, it’s a great space to be,” says Goertz. “I always looked at the building and thought, ‘something good needs to go in there, never imagining that it would be me.’”


SPOTLIGHT


Bison Books E


Bison Books Located at 424 Graham Avenue


ven though she’s forever surrounded by books, owner Aimee Peake of Bison Books doesn’t get to read nearly as often as some of her regular customers.


“Tere’s always reading going on, but I run two business-


es, and I’m a single parent, and I have a puppy,” explains Peake. Between bedtime stories, cookbooks and lunchtime reads, she scans her over 20,000 titles in Bison Books’ col- lection and has become a bit of an intellectual generalist. “You learn a little bit about a lot of things,” says Peake, listing Himalayan travel, philosophy and Canadian litera-


ture among them. Since 2010, Bison Books has been housed at its current


location, 424 Graham Avenue – with impossibly high, lofty ceilings, giving an airy feeling among the abundant stacks of bookshelves. Getting her start over 20 years ago in the business, Peake


isn’t sure what to credit her affinity for antiquarian or col- lectible books to, other than thriving under the tutelage of her mentor, Michael Park – the owner of Greenfield Books, where she spent her university days working part-time. “I just kept kind of coming and going,” remembers Peake. “Even when I went tree planting or to Europe… I’d always come back.” Sadly, her mentor passed in 2017, but she was able to


acquire his extensive stock to add to Bison Books – helping his meticulously curated collection live on, reaching new readers and collectors. While her love for business and book collection may have


formed under her relationship with Park, Peake also has a deep appreciation for the printed word. “Digital stuff expires, files change, things become obso-


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lete… I think it’s really important to steward this kind of information,” says Peake. “I’ve (also) always had a bit of a romantic notion of the


value of second-hand items, not wanting it to go to waste… and the value of the typical object. I much prefer a print book, myself, personally.” Bison Books’ eclectic customer base agrees, as the ma-


jority of sales to-date still happen over the counter, while online purchasing is readily available. After years of handling books, Peake has become ex-


pressly handy at pricing rare and used books, and is always accepting new submissions and assessing their value. “Tere’s a lot of different reasons that these books are


here, that they’re worth saving,” says Peake. “By handling books over the years, you become quite familiar with what’s common and what’s not. It’s the ones that don’t have comparisons that are really interesting. You have to put a value on it. “(Ten) we’ll find a good home for these – that’s my job.


It’s like an orphanage. To find the next proper owner for each item.”


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