North End pet shop a family tradition

North End

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/10/2023 (764 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When I bought my parrot 34 years ago, I found a great little pet shop on Main Street and Magnus Avenue where I’ve been buying Billie (my blue-fronted Amazon) her food and supplies ever since (except for the ’90s, when we lived in Vancouver).

When I first saw the store, it had an interesting, if not unusual, name – JW Bird Shop and Appliances. One side of the store featured appliances and the other side of the store had fish and birds. The original owner, Jake, used to breed parrots, birds and fish back home in Poland and ran a pet shop there. After emigrating to Canada, he opened his pet and appliance shop at the corner of Main and Magnus.

I recently spoke with the current owner, Jake’s son Henry, who runs and owns the store with his sIster, Barbara, which they’ve been doing since1988. Henry fondly recalled growing up with a basement full of fish in aquariums and parrots. The store, now called JW Bird Shop & Aquariums, has expanded twice over the years — after they acquired ownership of the Solo grocery on the north side of the original shop and an auto supply store on the south side.

Henry and Barbara don’t really advertise for their thriving business, which also sells pet food and supplies (cages, aquariums, toys and pet food). Henry explained that they now have three generations of faithful customers — parents, children and grandchildren — buying pets and supplies.

In 2001, Take Pride Winnipeg offered to paint a mural on the side of the building and asked them what they would like. They chose a fish scene, which was painted by Jennifer Johnson and Mandy Van Leeuwen. In 2010,they commissioned local artist Pat Lazo to paint the current mural, which features birds, fish and reptiles, on the front of the building.

As I walked through the various areas of the store with Billie on my shoulder, one of the two store cats followed us around. As we entered the fish area, the atmosphere seemed to change, with beautiful classical music filling the air.

Henry and Barbara were able to stay open during the pandemic as an essential service. Indeed, it was a crazy, unsure time and I ended up buying a huge (one-year supply) bag of parrot food and other parrot necessities. They also have a loyalty card whereby you get a $10 fcredit after 12 $10 purchases. They even put your filled card into a draw each month. I’m a huge supporter of buying local and supporting local business, so I’m very happy to have them in my neighbourhood.