The Forks celebrates decade of hospitality at The Common
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
A boat tour at The Forks — but first, food from Fergies and drinks from The Common.
Heather Dyck and Brent Cranwill’s Tuesday afternoon agenda included those items as the Winnipeg couple entertained friends from Edmonton.
Dyck and Cranwill say they visit The Forks around six times a year.
MIKE SUDOMA / FREE PRESS
The Common’s rotating menu continues to include a curated list of 23 wines plus 24 craft beers.
“It depends how many times she volunteers at the fringe festival,” Cranwill said between bites of his fish and chips, seated on The Common’s patio. “If she has (a commitment) here, we always come to eat and have a beer.”
The addition of The Common — the beer and wine kiosk in The Forks Market food hall — in 2016 and The Outdoor Common three years later was a positive move for one of Winnipeg’s best-known tourist destinations, Dyck said.
“I think it encourages people to eat outside in nature,” she said.
It’s been 10 years since The Common opened following a $2.5-million renovation of The Forks Market food hall. The Forks marked the milestone Tuesday evening with a celebration that included live music, a photo booth and drink specials.
Providing a welcoming place for people to gather is what it’s all about, said Chrystle McIntosh, director of people, culture and hospitality at The Forks.
“What I’ve really loved about it is seeing how this space has changed — how we truly have transformed to being a destination for locals as well as tourists,” said McIntosh, who was hired in 2015 to help get The Common up and running.
“I love how people can just come here and be. You don’t have to spend a single dime. You can just sit and relax and enjoy.”
When The Common opened as part of the revitalization of The Forks Market by Number Ten Architectural Group, it introduced a new way for people to experience the site. Visitors could grab a bite to eat from one of The Forks’ vendors and pair it with a glass of one of 20 wines or 20 craft beers.
Since The Forks Market was now licensed, visitors could even wander throughout both floors with a beer or a glass of wine in hand.
McIntosh remembers the first day The Common opened. She’d hired six or seven bartenders and she wasn’t sure if they’d have enough work to do. But the kiosk soon became a popular destination. Today, it employs 25 bartenders during peak season.
A sommelier trains the team and curates “a really thoughtful list” of wines, McIntosh said.
“We certainly never intended for The Common to be the destination,” McIntosh said. “It was to enhance our existing food vendors that we have in the market and to just add and elevate the experience of people that were already coming here.”
Creating “a fun and approachable space” for people to get to know wine was also part of the original vision, she added.
MIKE SUDOMA / FREE PRESS
The Common is a significant revenue generator for The Forks, which receives 3.8 million visitors annually.
The Common’s rotating menu continues to include a curated list of 23 wines plus 24 craft beers, nearly a dozen of which are local. The menu also includes non-alcoholic and gluten-free options.
The kiosk’s in-house craft beer curator, Hailey Tennant, manages the beer list, while wine expert (and Free Press literary editor and wine columnist) Ben Sigurdson curates the wine menu.
The Forks Market extended beverage service outside when it opened The Outdoor Common in 2019. Today, it includes 450 seats, making it the largest licensed outdoor patio in Manitoba and one of the largest in Western Canada.
McIntosh would not disclose how much The Common makes each year, but did say it’s a significant revenue generator for The Forks, which receives 3.8 million visitors annually.
“(It) certainly has been transformative for The Forks,” McIntosh said.
Rylee Harvey, who manages the Mini Donuts Factory next to The Common, agrees.
“They’re keeping business here, for real,” said Harvey, who has worked at the vendor for the past decade. “They make a lot of money between the outside bar and the inside bar.”
That has ultimately meant more business for the Mini Donuts Factory, she said. “It kind of helped because it encouraged people to stay here later.”
aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca
Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. Read more about Aaron.
Every piece of reporting Aaron produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
