50 years, 4 generations, countless cakes: Gelyn’s shutters storefront

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This article was published 30/12/2024 (470 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been a slice, but Gelyn’s Wedding Lounge is closing its doors at 690 Ellice Ave.

The family business, which specializes in cakes for all occasions, has operated in the purple two-storey building on the corner of Ellice Avenue and Victor Street for five decades.

Staff will fill final orders Jan. 1 and then close the business for the foreseeable future.

“I have mixed emotions,” owner Dorothy Gil said Monday. “Part of me is thinking, ‘what am I going to do from 11 to 6 (every day)’? Because that’s when I’m here. We’ll see how that goes.”

Gil’s parents, Geronimo (Gerry) and Erlinda (Linda) Ramos, started the business in 1974, four years after emigrating from the Philippines. They combined their names to create the Gelyn’s moniker. Erlinda baked cakes in the family’s kitchen until they moved the business to Ellice Avenue in 1975.

Gelyn’s eventually became a full-service wedding business, offering gowns, tuxedos, decorations and DJ services in addition to cakes — everything “except for the bride and groom” was available at the shop, Gil said. The family owned a wedding hall in Headingley, and then on Furby Street, that could accommodate 1,000 guests.

Cakes were always the store’s speciality, though, and in the last 35 years, baking has been the focus. Gelyn’s offers ube cake — a traditional Filipino sponge cake made with ube halaya (mashed purple yam) — in a variety of sizes. Some Gelyn’s creations have towered more than two metres, not counting the cake topper.

All 10 of Erlinda and Geronimo’s children have been involved with the business at some point, as have many of their grandchildren and some of their great-grandchildren. The store has been a family meeting place for decades and the site of weekly Tuesday night potlucks.

“This was our hub, this was our go-to place — everything was done here,” said Marico Ramos, Dorothy’s sister. “If you needed something, you came straight here.”

Geronimo died in 2013, at 85. Prior to Erlinda’s death in 2020, at 89, she and her children started talking about selling the building.

“Every birthday, every anniversary, that’s where I always buy my cakes. I was almost crying when I first found out they were closing.”– Amy Bobiles, a customer for more than 40 years

Four years later, the time has come to leave the premises.

The family sold the building earlier this year for an undisclosed amount to City Church, which operates Naomi House — a transitional home for newly-arrived refugees — next door at 700 Ellice Ave.

Gil and the family are still working out what form the business will take once they’ve left the building. Opening a new storefront or becoming a pop-up shop are among the options, but for now, Gelyn’s is not accepting new orders.

It’s disappointing news for Amy Bobiles, who has been a customer for more than 40 years. When she and her late husband, Tony, got married June 4, 1983, the feast they served their 1,000 guests included more than a dozen cakes from Gelyn’s.

“Every birthday, every anniversary, that’s where I always buy my cakes,” Bobiles said, adding she regularly brought Gelyn’s cakes to relatives in Calgary and Las Vegas. “I was almost crying when I first found out they were closing.”

The Ramos family are wonderful people, said Tim Nielsen, pastor at City Church, who formed a friendship with Erlinda when Naomi House opened in 2017. “They’ve been great neighbours and we desire the best for them.”

City Church will use the building to expand Naomi House. Volunteers will spend the next year or two doing renovations, creating three additional suites and a meeting space.

“We are very, very grateful to everybody that supported us all these years.”– Dorothy Gil

In 2024, City Church sponsored refugees from 16 countries. The cause is near to congregants’ hearts because many of them were refugees themselves.

“We’re not in any rush to take over the space,” Nielsen said. “Our desire is (the Ramos family) finish well and could look back and be glad for the memories they have and the impact they made on Winnipeg.”

While the future of the business is uncertain, one thing Gil knows for sure is how thankful she is to the store’s many customers.

“We are very, very grateful to everybody that supported us all these years,” she said.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca