Stella’s closes original Osborne Village restaurant for good

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This article was published 26/05/2020 (1984 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Stella’s location that started it all is shutting its doors.

The Osborne Village location of Stella’s, a chain of Winnipeg cafés, is closing permanently, a move the restaurant’s management said was motivated by not only the COVID-19 pandemic, but by the decline of the once-bustling neighbourhood.

“It is because of our great staff and loyal guests that Stella’s Osborne had such a tremendous run,” a post on the chain’s Facebook page reads. “It is with heavy hearts that we must say, that run has come to an end.”

Before Stella’s became a chain, it was a simple restaurant in the Village: its doors opened in December 1999, and the response was such that expansion soon took the Stella’s brand to River Heights-Tuxedo, Wolseley, Portage Avenue, St. Boniface, Pembina Highway, and the James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. The chain became a brunch behemoth.

In 2018, Stella’s came under fire over allegations of a hostile workplace environment, with several former staff members coming forward to share their experiences of sexual harassment and bullying during their time working for the chain. The Not My Stella’s campaign led to the removal of high-ranking managers, including the vice-president of operations, as well as a successful unionization drive at the Sherbrook and Osborne locations.

Despite the controversy, the chain remained a popular dining spot. But the Osborne Village location could not weather the storm of COVID-19, nor the perceived and real struggles of the neighbourhood as a whole.

Prior to the pandemic, the area — which has long thrived on the persistence and presence of local restaurants and stores as opposed to national chains — was already mired in its fair share of struggles, many tied to the neighbourhood’s public perception of decline; several longtime tenants, including Into the Music and the Osborne Village Motor Inn, had closed down, while other spots on the strip have struggled to stay in business.

At the same time, the neighbourhood showed positive growth and stability, with new and established restaurants and businesses staying strong and a redevelopment of the motor inn set to begin later this year.

“We are undergoing some sort of transition period in Osborne Village,” said Osborne Village BIZ executive director Brian Timmerman earlier in May when discussing the closure of Segovia, a tapas spot that acquired a devout following.

COVID-19 has poked more holes in the Village: Segovia and Stella’s could be only the first of many dominoes to fall.

The restaurant staffed 13 employees, whom the company said will be given preferential consideration for employment at other locations when jobs are posted. 

Of the Osborne location, the restaurant’s management wrote that it will always hold a special place in the chain’s history, while promising to look for “new and exciting” opportunities in the future.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca