Changing it up From budget menus to pop-ups, biz and consumers adapt to sticker shock By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 2:46 PM CST Friday, Dec. 8, 2023 Last Modified: 9:31 AM CST Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023 Updates

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This article was published 08/12/2023 (838 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Just months ago, Nick Graumann struggled to get customers into his downtown Winnipeg restaurant.

Then he pasted a new menu on the window: “Budget Bites.”

Three-dollar quesadillas and perogies, $4 wraps and sliders. Nick’s on Broadway now sells out regularly and sometimes can’t keep up, its owner said.

The transition comes as consumer debt increases across the country, people draw from their retirement funds and deal hunting has become tougher. (A Joe Fresh pop-up that advertised $1 to $10 items near the Winnipeg airport has gained popularity.)

“We really struggled with the pandemic,” said Graumann, who is also the chef at Nick’s on Broadway. “We tried a bunch of different things.”

“We really struggled with the pandemic. We tried a bunch of different things.”–Nick Graumann

The 287 Broadway eatery offered pizza and various delivery options, but there weren’t many people around, Graumann recalled.

He spoke to a customer who suggested making a cheap menu — $4 or $5 items only. Graumann accepted.

“Everyone’s kind of hurting from the pandemic,” he noted. “This is exactly the kind of menu that people need.”

On the operational side, it helps the restaurant reduce its own costs while keeping the quality, Graumann said.

He and his parents work behind the counters. He bakes bread daily for the reduced-size meals.

“If it wasn’t good and it was $4, I might have people coming in, but no one would be coming back,” Graumann noted.

Ope Adenaike and Ledona Reyes came back. The friends and co-workers sat at a booth Thursday, sipping soup and eating bread.

They visit their Broadway office about once a week.

“With inflation, obviously things are way expensive, and people’s earnings are probably not as high… I think (Budget Bites) works well for this place,” Adenaike said.

“With inflation, obviously things are way expensive, and people’s earnings are probably not as high… I think (Budget Bites) works well for this place.”–Ope Adenaike

She and Reyes used to bypass the eatery because they expected it to be expensive and would grab lunch at a different spot.

Reyes recalled spending $13 at a fast-food chain. At Nick’s, the food is cheaper, closer and better quality, she said.

“It’s perfect,” stated Scott Clark, one of the regulars. “Having something small and easy to go with, it really cuts down on lineups… (and) their staff needs.”

Clark, whose background is in union work, called a budget menu “necessary” given food inflation. Manitoba’s overall rate of food inflation was 5.7 per cent this year compared to last.

In 2022, the province’s rate of food inflation jumped 10.7 per cent year-over-year.

“From a labour perspective, we’re having a heck of a time trying to give wage increases that reflect the inflationary costs,” Clark said.

“(It’s) absolutely essential to have something in the neighbourhood that’s going to be budget conscious.”

Joe Fresh outlet prices ‘very attractive’

Roughly seven kilometres northwest, people are filling carts at Winnipeg’s first Joe Fresh pop-up outlet. Loblaw advertises its clothes and accessories at $1 to $10 prices (though they can reach $20); the signs, and shop, face the intersection of Wellington Avenue and Berry Street.

“I came Saturday, but it was too busy,” Marcia Takahashi said as she browsed through racks of Joe Fresh clothes earlier this week.

She described the prices as “very attractive.”

The Joe Fresh pop-up opened at the end of October and will conclude Jan. 31, a spokesperson wrote in an email.

They didn’t provide details on how many people have used the outlet so far. Montreal, and Markham and Vaughan in Ontario, also have pop-ups.

Loblaw’s third-quarter revenue increased five per cent, to $18.3 billion, when compared to the year prior. The corporation didn’t break down its Joe Fresh revenue in its third-quarter report.

People looking for deals

Jeff Gerwing, a financial planner through Gerwing Planning Inc., has noticed clients pulling from their savings and retirement funds more over the past year.

They’re putting more into savings too, likely due to higher interest rates, in an effort to make money on their money, Gerwing noted. He typically works with people between the ages of 45 and 65 who have a family income of between $100,000 and $350,000.

“I’m noticing a lot of trips are still happening, the renovations are still happening, a lot of things are still happening,” he said.

Car and restaurant meal purchases seem to have taken a hit, he said.

“From my end… people are continuing to do the things they usually would do in spite of the higher costs,” Gerwing stated.

“The conscious or unconscious impact of that is that they’ll probably work longer.”

Regardless of income, people are looking for deals, he said.

Downtown biz situation ‘pretty bleak’

The debt of the average Manitoban, excluding their mortgage, rose to $17,315 this fall, as per Equifax data. It’s a 1.29 per cent increase from last year.

Among the provinces, our average personal debt is lowest, Equifax found. The credit reporting agency tracked an increase of $80.9 billion in debt nationally year-over-year, for a total $2.4 trillion.

The rise in debt is largely attributable to soaring credit card balances, Equifax explained in a recent report.

Missed payments are also increasing, Equifax found. Last fall, one in 25 Canadians missed a payment, up from one in 31 during the pandemic.

Graumann plans to continue Budget Bites indefinitely. He adds specials to the reduced-price menu, such as porchetta sliders and meat and cheese buns.

Owning a business downtown is still “pretty bleak,” he said.

Still, workers are returning to the city’s core and business is improving, he added.

Roughly two-thirds of employees downtown have returned on a full- or part-time basis, as per Winnipeg BIZ numbers.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com