Winnipeg Restaurants

[Riverman]

Ate at Marion Street Eatery last night, I will be returning.

[CoryB]

Third day in a row I have seen people inside Pizza Hotline "Coming Soon" in Winnipeg Square. It really seems like they might be close to opening this time.

[esquire]

^ Longest buildout ever! It looks like it's almost ready to go now.

Speaking of Pizza Hotline, I like the new Café 22 sign on Corydon.

[cllew]

Talking about Robin's I was down Lag last Sunday and saw that the Robins in the Petro Canada lot at Lag and Fermour has shut down. All the signs are off the store so I wonder whats going in there.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by cllew

Talking about Robin's I was down Lag last Sunday and saw that the Robins in the Petro Canada lot at Lag and Fermour has shut down. All the signs are off the store so I wonder whats going in there.

it's been for sale for 3+ years as have most of them

[bomberjet]

City should buy it, demolish it. Sit on the land until an interchange is built. They should also buy and close the Petro.

That's such a dangerous spot. The median opening on Lag just north of Fermor, pfff what a joke. The other day there were two cars there, both trying to turn left. One trying to turn east, one west. Then a third car was sitting perpendicular in the southbound lanes of Lag waiting for those two to turn. On an 80 km/h road. With traffic screaming by in the one open lane.

It would be interesting to see how many accidents there are at that location. Almost everyday someone in the northbound lanes is trying to turn into the petro lot. Blocks the left hand lane so everyone either squeezes right, or stops. Both dangerous.

[esquire]

^ That is a pretty dangerous intersection. Two major routes, high speed, terrible design. If there is a short list for intersections in need of improvement, that one has to be near the top.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

it's been for sale for 3+ years as have most of them

The one by the transit base at Osborne and Brandon is gone too.

It was going for around $60000.00 the last ad I saw for it in 2014 and looks like no takers.

[bomberjet]

It's too bad about Robin's. They needed a major re-brand and aggressive marketing campaign about a decade or two ago to keep up with Tim Horton's. I guess having small time owner's didn't work out too well.

I had a classmate in high school. his family were the owner's of I believe three Robin's, specifically the one on Lag and Grassie. Got free donuts every once in a while haha. But they're just a local family, not some huge corporation like Tim's is. All corporations do start somewhere though..

[esquire]

Originally Posted by cllew

The one by the transit base at Osborne and Brandon is gone too.

It was going for around $60000.00 the last ad I saw for it in 2014 and looks like no takers.

I can't say I'm surprised. I went in there a couple of times when I moved to Riverview... after receiving mediocre food and surly service both times, that was enough.

And believe me, I'm not a picky guy... out of all the places I've ever eaten at through the years there are less than 10 that stand out in my mind for being truly terrible. That Robins was one of them.

Originally Posted by bomberjet

It's too bad about Robin's. They needed a major re-brand and aggressive marketing campaign about a decade or two ago to keep up with Tim Horton's. I guess having small time owner's didn't work out too well.

I had a classmate in high school. his family were the owner's of I believe three Robin's, specifically the one on Lag and Grassie. Got free donuts every once in a while haha. But they're just a local family, not some huge corporation like Tim's is. All corporations do start somewhere though..

I'd imagine that Robins stores are run by local franchisees the way that Tim's stores are. I have relatives who own Tim's stores... they weren't wealthy when they got involved as franchisees years ago, but they are now. The difference is that Tim's supports franchisees very well with extremely effective marketing. Of course, they are notoriously demanding too (unlike Robins which clearly let franchisees get away with all kinds of substandard crap), which benefits those franchisees in the long run.

The Tim's brand and corporate support propelled franchisees to wealth and prosperity... whereas Robin's is basically a boat anchor that drags them down. I'm sure my relatives would be living in a trailer somewhere by now if they had opted for Robins franchises instead of Tim's.

[biguc]

Originally Posted by Riverman

Ate at Marion Street Eatery last night, I will be returning.

Great breakfast there.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

It's too bad about Robin's. They needed a major re-brand and aggressive marketing campaign about a decade or two ago to keep up with Tim Horton's. I guess having small time owner's didn't work out too well.

I had a classmate in high school. his family were the owner's of I believe three Robin's, specifically the one on Lag and Grassie. Got free donuts every once in a while haha. But they're just a local family, not some huge corporation like Tim's is. All corporations do start somewhere though..

If they are the people I am thinking of they had the one at Lag and Regent as well. Only knew that because I would see some of the same staff at both stores.

The husband of one of the ladies at work was the District Manager for Robins for a long time. She retired early about 3 years ago and I don't know if he did the same or is still there.

[tedtim]

Robins on Selkirk @ Salter isn't too friendly to non-regular customers.

[F. Lionel]

Danny's BBQ on Ellice is closed up and the signs on the building are down.

[blueandgoldguy]

Originally Posted by F. Lionel

Danny's BBQ on Ellice is closed up and the signs on the building are down.

Seems that is a bad location for a restaurant. Nothing seems to last too long there. Danny's BBQ lasted what? 1.5 years?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

Seems that is a bad location for a restaurant. Nothing seems to last too long there. Danny's BBQ lasted what? 1.5 years?

Grapes Leon Centre lasted for nearly 20 years there. Not a bad location... lease rates are likely the culprit.

[Riverman]

Bad food and bad service were the culprits there.

[Danny D Oh]

Originally Posted by esquire

I can't say I'm surprised. I went in there a couple of times when I moved to Riverview... after receiving mediocre food and surly service both times, that was enough.

And believe me, I'm not a picky guy... out of all the places I've ever eaten at through the years there are less than 10 that stand out in my mind for being truly terrible. That Robins was one of them.



I'd imagine that Robins stores are run by local franchisees the way that Tim's stores are. I have relatives who own Tim's stores... they weren't wealthy when they got involved as franchisees years ago, but they are now. The difference is that Tim's supports franchisees very well with extremely effective marketing. Of course, they are notoriously demanding too (unlike Robins which clearly let franchisees get away with all kinds of substandard crap), which benefits those franchisees in the long run.

The Tim's brand and corporate support propelled franchisees to wealth and prosperity... whereas Robin's is basically a boat anchor that drags them down. I'm sure my relatives would be living in a trailer somewhere by now if they had opted for Robins franchises instead of Tim's.

Robin's lost a lot of their best franchisees in the early 2000s because they did not listen to them in terms of diversifying or focusing the business on what could make money or give them enough support to run a viable business. In fact, the franchisee I knew was forced to take inventory that he knew wouldn't sell. After about a year of that he went independent and eventually sold.

Many of their locations were competitive with nearby Hortons outlets, but one company surged and the other kept shooting itself in the foot. I believe Robin's could have held it's marketshare with good management. They never would have been a competitor in the drive-thru business, but they had a reasonable customer base and there are a lot of bored retired people who want to sit somewhere and drink coffee.

[vid]

In Thunder Bay, several of the Robin's locations are now independent coffee shops because the franchise holders got fed up with Robin's poor management. Our north end downtown has the highest concentration of coffee shops in the city and except for the McDonald's (which isn't really a coffee shop but has become very competitive in that area) they're all independents now.

That said, to be a regular customer of one of the not-so-well run Robin's Donuts is one of Central Canada's most special cultural peculiarities. The one I grew up near was a 24/7 location that was popular with all the truckers and motorcycle gangs so you always got to see a really unique group of people. A lot of the regulars weren't from here, just passing through frequently.

[steveosnyder]

Originally Posted by vid

In Thunder Bay, several of the Robin's locations are now independent coffee shops because the franchise holders got fed up with Robin's poor management. Our north end downtown has the highest concentration of coffee shops in the city and except for the McDonald's (which isn't really a coffee shop but has become very competitive in that area) they're all independents now.

That said, to be a regular customer of one of the not-so-well run Robin's Donuts is one of Central Canada's most special cultural peculiarities. The one I grew up near was a 24/7 location that was popular with all the truckers and motorcycle gangs so you always got to see a really unique group of people. A lot of the regulars weren't from here, just passing through frequently.

Last time I was in Thunder Bay I went to Calico coffee because it was recommended... Wasn't the greatest of places, but was better then Tim's or Starbucks.

Any recommendations for when I go visit family?