Make way for the makers market

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This article was published 09/08/2023 (790 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brad Hewlett once sold hand-carved wooden ducks at The Forks.

Now, he and his staff will oversee a surprise bag of new vendors cropping up every week. Toffee, coffee, soap — entrepreneurs will be marketing their wares, temporarily, on The Forks Market’s second floor.

They’ll do so beside a new, glassy boardroom meant for events and workshops. Hewlett is imagining paint nights and art exhibitions.

“It’s sort of like a revolving door,” said Zach Peters, The Forks’ communications manager.

The idea came about during the pandemic, Peters added.

“There was this concept of, ‘How do we help local entrepreneurs and small business owners?’”

Many smaller markets had paused. Historically, The Forks has hosted pop-up retailers, and in recent years, its tenants have held workshops, like cake decorating by Jenna Rae Cakes and candle making with Coal and Canary, Peters said.

“We’ve always sort of had to find space in our market to make that work,” he noted. “We like to, but we often also don’t like shutting down any parts of the market.”

And so, during the pandemic, The Forks Renewal Corporation issued a request for creative, locally focused retail concepts. It emphasized ideas with a pop-up spin and promised to begin reviewing submissions in March of 2022.

Hewlett took note.

More than 30 years ago, he was among the determined vendors working a booth. He and a partner sold wooden ducks, among other carved items, on the second floor of The Forks Market.

“It’s kind of coming full circle,” Hewlett laughed.

Between the days of Splinters wooden items and now, he’s opened The Forks Trading Company, a retailer covering 2,100 square feet of The Forks Market’s second floor.

“We’re out of room,” Hewlett said.

He hired Megan Basaraba, his general manager, in 2014. She brought new connections to local vendors. Now, more than 150 small businesses sell goods in his outlet.

“There was this concept of, ‘How do we help local entrepreneurs and small business owners?’”–Zach Peters

Hewlett needed to ask permission to use “The Forks” in his venture’s name; The Forks does not own his company.

Hewlett found himself, again, asking for The Forks’ permission — this time, to expand with the pop-up approach The Forks was calling for.

“Megan has a lot of makers contact her, and we just no longer have the space,” Hewlett said. “This will allow us to bring a lot more people on board.”

The Forks green-lit a near-doubling of The Forks Trading Company’s space. Additionally, the federal government announced more than $308,000 for the initiative in July — money that drastically helped the expansion, according to Peters.

On Tuesday, a temporary wall hid much of the roughly 2,100 sq. ft. makers’ space and multi-purpose room.

“Walls came down, walls (are) going up,” Peters said after a quick walk-through of the construction zone.

The site used to hold three shops: a pet store, a vacant unit and Distant Caravans, which housed women’s clothing and a psychic. Distant Caravans has moved to the Johnston Terminal at The Forks.

The renovated space is now open-air, aside from Allery, a multi-purpose room that can seat upwards of 20 people. Hewlett hasn’t advertised the site; still, he’s discussed ideas for the space with entrepreneurs.

Some might use Allery for workshops, art exhibits and product promotion.

“The Forks is all about being a meeting place,” Hewlett said. “We want to create some opportunities for people to come down.”

He’s tentatively set Allery’s booking price at $75 an hour or $300 per day.

“The Forks is all about being a meeting place. We want to create some opportunities for people to come down.”–Brad Hewlett

Entrepreneurs setting up makers’ booths in the five pop-up spaces will pay $350 a week (and $15 more per day in December).

Ten per cent of every sale at the market funnels to The Forks Trading Company.

“For someone that just wants to test the waters (of their small business)… there is no other place in Winnipeg where you can do this,” Hewlett said.

The second-floor scene is a place to test new products or promote a burgeoning brand, he added.

Pre-pandemic, The Forks saw around four million people annually. It’s on track to reach that number again this year, Peters said.

Entrepreneurs have booked pop-up spots in December and for the market’s opening. Hewlett anticipates its unveiling by the end of this month or early September.

“I really believe this is going to be something good,” he said. “Although I believe that we can teach (the makers) a few things, I’m sure we’ll learn some things from them as well.”

He didn’t offer a cap on how many weeks businesses can book their pop-up spots but noted bookings can’t be too lengthy.

The Forks Trading Company will expand its own shop into the renovated space, which it sits beside.

“I think this is really cool,” said Madeline Hiebert, who’s served frozen yogurt in The Forks Market for at least three years. “People can see what’s going on in the community and support each other.”

She called The Forks “a hub” in the city.

“If they’re making soap or something, I might partake,” Eileen Saltel mused, considering the pop-up market on the floor above her.

“I think this is really cool. People can see what’s going on in the community and support each other.”–Madeline Hiebert

She hadn’t been to The Forks for years — “it’s changed a lot,” she said.

The Forks likes turnover, to a degree, according to Peters. It wants to be an incubator for businesses, he added.

“We continually try to push that envelope a little bit, in terms of innovation and creativity,” Peters said.

Neither The Forks nor Hewlett said how much the second-floor renovation will cost. Both parties and Ottawa are covering the bill.

Hewlett also owns Two Rivers, the souvenir shop on the main floor of The Forks Market.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com