‘All in this together’ Venture by displaced Ukrainian artisans celebrates national spirit, helps face challenges of building new lives By: David Sanderson Posted: 4:04 PM CDT Friday, Oct. 3, 2025

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/10/2025 (353 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Serhii Okhrimenko and his wife Yuliia freely admit there wasn’t a lot to see 11 months ago when they opened Kolo Shop inside House of Local, a two-storey operation on Watt Street that is home to a handful of independent businesses.

After all, only five weeks had passed since the couple first set eyes on the vacant space to when they began welcoming customers, barely enough time to give the walls and ceiling a fresh coat of paint, let alone properly stock a gift store.

As they prepare to celebrate their first anniversary, however, their enterprise is bursting at the seams with goods largely produced by people with a narrative similar to their own — Ukrainians who fled to Canada in the weeks and months following the Russian invasion of their homeland in February 2022.

Besides traditional offerings such as handcrafted motanka dolls and gerdan necklaces, they also have whimsical selections along the line of perogy-shaped earrings and blue-and-yellow checkers sets, copying the Ukraine flag.

“I don’t think we had more than 16 or 17 (makers) when we got going, but we’re presently up to 52 and are hearing from new people all the time who want to sell their items here,” Serhii says, standing next to Yuliia in their snug, 350-square-foot locale, where their eight-year-old son Maksym is entertaining himself a few steps away with his mom’s laptop.

“My wife and I are a small team, but behind us is a huge team of crafters who bring us their products and share with us their stories.

“It’s our duty to help these people because — how do you say — we’re all in this together.”

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Serhii, 38, and Yuliia, 36, were both born and raised in Kyiv. They met 10 years ago through an online dating service. Yuliia smiles from ear to ear recalling their first date.

Serhii sent a car to pick her up at her residence, but because they hadn’t met in-person yet, she was a little apprehensive. So much so that she texted a friend while she was en route, to let her know the licence plate number of the vehicle, “just in case.”

She needn’t have worried. When she reached the destination, Serhii was waiting for her on the rooftop of a downtown high-rise, where a band was playing and food was being served.

“It was very romantic,” she says with a wink.

After getting married in 2016, the couple relocated to Brovary, a city of 100,000 situated 25 kilometres east of Kyiv. There, Yuliia ran a florist shop while Serhii worked as a manager for a Coca-Cola bottling plant. That was, when he wasn’t serving as a DJ for weddings and other special events.

On March 9, 2022, Russian forces advanced toward Brovary. For 10 days, Serhii, Yuliia and their young son huddled in the basement of their apartment block as drones and missiles rained down on the city. For their safety, Serhii ultimately convinced his wife to leave with Maksym. Arrangements were made for them to be driven to Lviv, 600 km west of Brovary. From there they walked to the Polish border, a 40-km trek that took them close to 12 hours to complete.

“When I was staying in Poland, I was thinking the war would be over in a few months and we’d be able to go home,” Yuliia says. “Pretty soon I realized that wasn’t going to happen, which is when I started making plans to go to Canada.”

Serhii interjects to mention that choosing this country wasn’t entirely random. He and Yuliia had seriously discussed moving to Canada years earlier for economic reasons. It was their “small dream,” he says.

Yuliia spent a month researching possible destinations. She became excited to learn that Manitoba was the province with the highest proportion of Ukrainians relative to its population, with more than 180,000 people. With help from the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, a Winnipeg-based non-profit that was formed in 1940 to assist Ukrainians fleeing Europe during the Second World War, she and Maksym arrived in Winnipeg in May 2022.

She recalls becoming overwhelmed as she was preparing to depart the plane. Not only would she need to secure a place to live, she would have to find work plus a school for her soon-to-be kindergartener. Throw in the fact she hadn’t spoken English to any large degree since she was in high school studying it as a second language, and it was all she could do not to drop to her knees and cry, right there beside the luggage carousel.

Meanwhile, back in Brovary, Serhii was less concerned with the imminent threat to his own well-being than with what his wife and son were going through.

“It was incredibly hard knowing what she was facing, and me not being able to help out at all,” he says.

Within a matter of days, Yuliia and Maksym lucked into an apartment on Henderson Highway. Next she was hired by a florist on Corydon Avenue. And through Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral on Main Street, she began meeting others in her situation, mothers with children who’d been forced to leave their spouses behind, as they attempted to start anew in strange surroundings.

Yuliia had been involved with a number of charities in Brovary. That led to an opportunity to help organize a Christmas craft market Holy Trinity was staging in December 2022. She enlisted some of her fellow Ukrainian refugees to contribute handmade creations such as candles, soap and clothing. The event was a hit, and by the time Serhii joined her here in July 2023, Yuliia was running regular markets through the church under the banner Kolo Ukrainian Makers Circle, kolo being the Ukrainian word for wheel or circle.

Because each sale was more successful than the last, Serhii started to think about establishing a permanent spot for the Ukrainian artisans his wife was associating with — a place where their wares could be available for purchase on an everyday basis, versus every second month or so in a church basement.

“Last September I was on (Facebook) Marketplace, looking for furniture for our apartment, when I spotted a for-rent ad for this space,” says Serhii, who works full-time for Canad Inns as an audio-visual technician. “The price was right plus it was close to where we lived so we came down to meet with the owner. Right away we knew it would be a good fit.”

Maryna Zadavych, a single mother of one, came to Canada from Odesa in the summer of 2022. She and Yuliia met soon thereafter. When Yuliia was put in charge of that initial craft show at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Zadavych was one of the first people she called.

“Back in Ukraine I studied at an art college and before my son was born, I worked with children in art clubs, painted murals and did face-painting at events,” Zadavych says. “For the Christmas market I prepared some handmade watercolour Christmas cards. To my surprise and joy, they all sold out.”

The two of them stayed in touch and when the Okhrimenkos opened Kolo Shop, Zadavych was at the top of their list, yet again.

“I specialize in souvenir products with Ukrainian motifs: keychains, magnets, car pendants, brooches as well as dried flower compositions that I collect and prepare myself,” Zadavych says.

“I am very proud and grateful to have a permanent place like Kolo Shop where I can bring my creations, meet people and share my art. It brings me joy that people in Winnipeg appreciate and support my work, and I feel thankful not only to Kolo Shop, but also to the Ukrainian community and all Winnipeggers who visit the shop and support Ukrainian artisans.”

To celebrate their first year in business, the Okhrimenkos will be hosting an open house in early November. All visitors will receive a small gift and will also be entered into a grand-prize draw that will be held at the end of the day. (For more information, go to their website koloshop.ca)

Other plans include attracting more vendors, and perhaps even adding a frozen-food section stocked with Ukrainian favourites such as perogies and cabbage rolls. That’s been a common request, Serhii says.

“My wife is an excellent cook so that would definitely be her department, if it comes to pass,” he says, placing an arm around her shoulders.

Both of them still have family in Ukraine, so if there is one more thing on their wish list, it would be for the war to end as soon as possible.

“Thankfully my brother and sister are far away from the combat but that could change any minute,” he says.

“In the meantime we pray for their lives, and for the lives of all the people back home.”

david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca