Longtime Scott-Bathgate president ‘was guided by the principle of always doing the right thing’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/03/2024 (585 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The man who helmed iconic Winnipeg brand Nutty Club’s parent company for a half-century has died, just months after announcing the longtime institution’s closure.

James (Jim) Cowan Burt died March 14 at his home, at age 90.

Burt was “intellectually curious,” according to his two sons, who said Monday it was part of the reason he continued as president of Scott-Bathgate Ltd. even as a nonagenarian.

“He felt that continuing to work in a challenging job like this helped to maintain his mental acuity,” said Austin Burt, who spoke to the Free Press alongside his brother Darrell.

Burt stepped away from his leadership role, and announced the closure of Scott-Bathgate, in December. The decision followed a heart attack in 2022.

It was time to shutter the 120-year-old Exchange District-area food business, Burt told the Free Press, at the time. He described a changed world — one with less corner stores selling Nutty Club brand peanuts and popcorn.

“He loved his job,” Darrell said Monday.

When the children were growing up, Burt prioritized coming home for dinner with the family — shortly after 6 p.m. — and often shared details of his work life, they said.

He cared about his employees and the quality of Scott-Bathgate products, the brothers said.

Burt’s position at Scott-Bathgate veered far from his initial career trajectory.

Born in Timmins, Ont., he graduated high school in Brampton. Post-high school graduation, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, becoming fighter pilot and instructor.

The Ontario native visited bases throughout Canada and earned shooting accuracy records. Those records stood for years, according to a recent obituary.

Eventually, Burt left the RCAF to fly for Trans-Canada Air Lines (predecessor to Air Canada). During this time, he fell in love with Marilyn May, a Winnipeg woman. The two married in 1960.

May’s father provided Burt an offer and ultimatum: a job at Scott-Bathgate but no more flying. Burt accepted and, according to his sons, claimed he didn’t miss the career.

Burt became president of Scott-Bathgate in 1971. It meant overseeing the food manufacturer and its brands, Nutty Club and Food Club, with warehouses in Regina, Calgary, Edmonton and Delta, B.C.

The Nutty Club’s red-and-white stripe design covered everything from tins of smoked oysters to food colouring. Its products were sold west of Thunder Bay, Ont.

Amid the large workload, Burt made time to tinker with machines and ask questions of engineers and maintenance crews at Scott-Bathgate. He enjoyed disassembling and reassembling things, his sons said.

“He’d want to know how the machines worked in these operations, whether they’re making peanuts or mustard,” Darrell said.

“He was a very good businessman, was guided by the principle of always doing the right thing. I would consider myself very fortunate to… meet and to work with him.”– Joe Healey

Burt also loved investments and bargains, travel and bridge, family said. He kept season tickets for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the city’s top-tier hockey team — the Winnipeg Jets or, for a time, Manitoba Moose — for upwards of 50 years.

Meantime, Burt watched the world change. He didn’t ink deals to supply Nutty Club products nationally, despite grocery chains’ amalgamation.

Many of the smaller businesses Scott-Bathgate sold goods to closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Burt said in a December interview.

He also didn’t establish a succession plan and neither of his sons — who have careers outside of Manitoba — wanted ownership of the company.

Burt hired Joe Healey to assist with the corporation’s conclusion.

“He was a very good businessman, was guided by the principle of always doing the right thing,” Healey said. “I would consider myself very fortunate to… meet and to work with him.”

Scott-Bathgate is ending operations as planned, Healey stated. Most of the 50-odd staff were laid off at the beginning of 2024; a handful have stayed to perform final administrative tasks.

Meantime, discussing Scott-Bathgate’s Winnipeg real estate plans would be “a little premature,” Healey said.

The company has buildings in the east Exchange District. The Pioneer Avenue Nutty Club building — recognizable by the Can-D-Man logo painted on its brick surface — is on Winnipeg’s historical buildings list.

“We are working with the company stakeholders on next steps, and that will all happen in an orderly and planned manner,” Healey said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com