‘Wild outdoors’ indoors

Henry Wasserman has managed to make his hobbies his business.

Wasserman and his sister, Barbara Karel, own and operate JW Bird Shop and Aquariums, a pet store in Winnipeg’s North End neighbourhood. The store sells, among other things, exotic birds and fish.

Wasserman is a scuba diving enthusiast, and though it’s been almost nine years since his last trip, he’s made dives throughout the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Indonesia and South Africa.

There’s something about experiencing marine life up close Wasserman finds alluring — and if he can’t be outside and in the ocean full-time, why not enjoy fish in a pet store?

“(I’m) just trying to duplicate the wild outdoors,” Wasserman says.

Head to 1034 Main St. to visit JW Bird Shop and Aquariums and the first thing you’ll notice is the storefront. An ocean, mountains and the jungle converge in a mural by local visual artist Pat Lazo, which depicts a few animals you’ll find in the store (exotic birds and Koi fish) and a few you won’t (salamanders and panthers).

Step inside the 7,000-square-foot shop and you’ll immediately find an array of supplies for small animals. Whether you have a cat, dog or hamster, Wasserman has what you need to keep your pet happy.

The birds are located further down the main aisle, about halfway through the store. They include Coco, a 36-year-old blue-and-gold macaw, and Sophie, an Amazon parrot. There are numerous budgies and finches as well.

Beyond the birds are the fish — hundreds of them swimming in dozens of tanks. Some are native to Africa and Australia. Near the fish are terrariums that hold a leopard gecko and red-eared slider turtles.

It’s a fascinating site to behold, especially if you’re walking in during a Winnipeg cold snap.

As Wasserman takes a visitor on a tour of the shop, he points out the spot where his two black cats — four-year-old sisters Sateen and Licorice — are sleeping.

Wasserman, Karel and their two siblings grew up surrounded by animals. They were born in Poland, where their father, Jake Wasserman, bred parrots, birds and fish, and ran a pet shop.

The family immigrated to Winnipeg from Jasien, a town in western Poland, in 1970, They settled in the North End, with Jake and his wife Salomea eventually purchasing a house on Atlantic Avenue.

In 1977, Jake Wasserman opened a store at the corner of Main Street and Magnus Avenue where he fixed and sold used appliances. Henry Wasserman later joined the business. When Jake’s collection of birds and fish outgrew his basement, he moved it to the appliance store in 1988.

At that time, the store transitioned into a pet shop. Jake worked at the store until his death in 1997.

JW Bird Shop and Aquariums is open Monday to Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The shop doesn’t have a website or social media presence.

At one time, the store had five employees, but business has slowed down over the last 10 years — something Wasserman and Karel attribute to the rising popularity of online shopping.

Still, they are happy to serve the customers that make the trek.

That includes lending customers a hand when they can, Karel says. From time to time, when a customer needing food or medicine for their pet is short on money, Karel lets them pay what they can and asks them to pay the difference next time they’re in. Sometimes people don’t, but many times they do, she says.

Which leads Karel to share a memory that sticks out in her mind. About 10 years ago, “a kid with a hoodie on” — one with a rough look Karel says might have made her cross the street if she saw him approaching — came up to the register, put $2 into her hands and said, “Here’s the money I owe you.”

“To me that was worth a million bucks,” Karel says. “I’ll never forget that.”

Of all the animals in the shop, the birds are her favourite.

“Fish are OK, but birds are better,” Karel says. “Birds are easy. They’re lovable.”

Wasserman, meanwhile, is fascinated by the fish.

“I get up in the morning and I come to work and (I) don’t regret it,” he says. “If you have to work, this is the job that you’d want to have.”

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca