Takis storms into Exchange District

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This article was published 16/08/2016 (3615 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At the tender age of 21, Peter Takis already is running three thriving businesses and this young gun shows no sign of slowing down.

Takis is the driving force behind the List, a supper club and lounge on McDermot Avenue, recording studio Blacklist Studios, and a barbershop and boutique, Blacklist Boutique.

The List, which opened last fall, recently joined forces with local sandwich shop the Epic Wedge Eatery to create a lunch menu for guests. Originally located at 1402 Main St., Epic Wedge is now operating out of the List at 216 McDermot Ave.

Takis said sandwich shops are doing really well downtown, but noted Epic Wedge had more of a “cult-like, residential following” because of its location on Main Street. He said bringing it into a high-traffic area in the Exchange District has “changed the game for them.”

“It’s a really cool collaboration,” said Takis. “I don’t think I’ve seen something like this — two businesses working really well together under one roof. But that’s new and that’s exciting. So far, we’ve doubled our lunch traffic. The mayor’s office are ordering sandwiches all the time. It’s a really big change for us.”

Takis said this new venture has taken off since it was launched in July. There was one week where they sold out of sandwiches over two separate days and lineups were forming outside the lounge.

He said adding the lunch menu to the List was a year-long process.

“We had some serious concerns about (whether) people feel comfortable having lunch at our location when we were known as a little more nightlife/supper club. We’ve seen Shawarma Khan do really, really well. We witnessed Chosabi and King + Bannatyne do really well,” he said.

“So we weren’t sure and we weren’t fully confident that we could do as well as they were until we collaborated with Epic Wedge. Once I knew how well they had an understanding, I felt fully comfortable and fully confident that we could crush it.”

Takis said he is also upgrading and expanding his other two businesses. Blacklist Studios is opening a location in Toronto, marking Takis’s first business foray outside of Winnipeg. He couldn’t confirm when it would open, but he hopes it’ll be up and running this fall.

“I’ve been very locally based. This is the first time I’ve felt comfortable trying to bring our studio, our energy and our brand to Toronto.”

Meanwhile, Blacklist Boutique at 74 Albert St. is getting a new name and a new aesthetic. The boutique will be changing its name to Saint, and Takis said the store’s concept will remain the same but will look “10 times better.”

The new look will also include new barber Scott Ramos, who Takis refers to as “the top barber in Canada right now.”

“It’s going to look like something Winnipeg probably hasn’t seen in awhile. It’s very comparable to some of the barbershops and boutiques you’ll see in Los Angeles and Montreal. We’re going to try and take it up a notch and be really risky with design for Saint.”

The boutique is open to the public, although a portion of it is still undergoing renovations. Takis said he hopes to have the renovations completed this fall.

alexandra.depape@freepress.mb.ca