Fromagerie Bothwell to shutter

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This article was published 14/04/2025 (237 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After seven years in business, Bothwell Cheese is shuttering its only standalone store.

Fromagerie Bothwell, located in the Central St. Boniface neighbourhood, will be closed permanently as of May 3.

Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Ltd., the Ontario-based company that owns Bothwell Cheese, cited “changing consumer shopping habits” as the reason for the closure.

“A lot of people have moved to online and (we’re) not getting as much foot traffic as (we) used to,” said Robin Redstone, director of communications at Gay Lea Foods.

She added staffing challenges have resulted in the Winnipeg store averaging one unplanned closure a week “for the last little while … We know some customers in the local area might feel disappointed, but it was increasingly difficult to justify keeping it open.”

The store’s seven employees, all of whom work part-time, will lose their jobs. Redstone said the company’s human resources team is “committed to supporting them through that transition.”

Consumers can continue to find a variety of its products at the Bothwell Factory Cheese Shop in New Bothwell (some 30 kilometres southeast of the city), as well as retail locations throughout the province and across the country, according to Redstone.

“It’s in no way a reflection on the Bothwell brand,” she said, adding Gay Lea Foods has been working to introduce Bothwell Cheese to new consumers since it acquired the company 2 1/2 years ago. “The brand is growing across Canada. It’s a much-loved brand.”

Bothwell Cheese was founded in 1936 by local farmers and grew to become Canada’s largest independently run cheese producer.

On May 1, 2018, Jean-Marc Champagne and Kevin Thomson, then-president of Bothwell Cheese, opened Fromagerie Bothwell. Located at the foot of the Esplanade Riel at 136 Provencher Blvd., the store offered not only Bothwell Cheese products, but food and gifts by other Manitoba producers and makers.

Gay Lea Foods purchased Bothwell, including Fromagerie Bothwell, for an undisclosed sum in fall 2022. Thomson retired around that time and Champagne stayed with the store until the end of February 2023 to ensure a smooth transition.

Lise Huberdeau has been shopping at Fromagerie Bothwell about twice a month ever since it opened. The 77-year-old downtown resident said she was saddened by the news of the store’s upcoming closure.

While shopping in the store Monday morning, Huberdeau said one of the things she appreciates is the staff are bilingual.

“I try to live in French as much as I can and in Winnipeg it’s not very easy,” she said. “This is one place I can come and be served in French.”

The news of the store’s impending closure is bittersweet, said Champagne, who still shops there regularly with his three young children.

The best part of being involved with the store was interacting with customers, he said Monday.

“It’s hard to find people who are unhappy walking into a cheese shop,” he said. “It was like a community store … Every second person that walked in, you knew. That was special.

“It’s a big loss for St. Boniface and Winnipeg as a whole.”

Hannah Turner, executive director of the Provencher Boulevard Business Improvement Zone, agreed.

“They were a great addition to the community — their storefront is very beautiful — so it’s a real loss,” she said.

The Provencher Blvd. BIZ does not track foot traffic, but Turner said in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has been working with business owners and Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities to draw people to the area.

These efforts include Jeudis Franco Thursdays, a cultural event series that takes place weekly from June to August.

“That’s something everyone’s trying to promote: more foot traffic,” Turner said.

Fromagerie Bothwell last day in business will be May 2. The business is advertising a closing sale: 25 per cent off all products in store.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca