One-stop culture shop

East Kildonan

South Osborne

Dufferin

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/12/2024 (537 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Things have come full circle for Ryan Bowman lately.

The owner of We Heart Winnipeg and the House of Local, which is located at 680 Watt St., grew up in northeast Winnipeg, graduating from River East Collegiate. After attending university and beginning his career in Waterloo, Ont., he moved back to Winnipeg and started a family. After launching We Heart Winnipeg, a clothing line with a focus on all things local, he was all set to open a storefront on south Osborne Street in April 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

“We did end up opening, but just kind of as a curbside pickup location, tried opening up when we could but quickly outgrew our space there,” Bowman said.

When an opportunity to house operations fully under one roof opened up, Bowman jumped on the opportunity, moving to the House of Local in March 2023, not far from where he grew up.

“When we got the building, we kind of had the opposite problem of Osborne, where it was too big rather than too small,” Bowman said.

The nearly 4,000-square-foot space in the heart of East Kildonan is home to We Heart Winnipeg’s ground floor showroom, as well as Kolo Shop, a Ukrainian craft and gift shop, while the second floor houses offices for a number of small business, along with We Heart Winnipeg’s screen-printing operation and storage.

“We were looking for a bigger building where we could do our screen-printing, as well as have more stock,” he said. “We used to screen-print on Dufferin (Street), sell the clothes on Osborne, have a warehouse somewhere else, so logistically it was a nightmare. It took us a couple of years, but we landed on this one, which is nice because for us its close to home. Now it’s all under one roof.”

As of Nov. 12, the House of Local is also the local spot to grab a hot cup of coffee.

“The coffee shop was part of the vision since day one, but it took a while to get it going,” Bowman admitted. “Even though we don’t have a sitdown spot, the building can still be a gathering or meeting place. A lot happens over a cup of coffee.”

The idea of making House of Local a home for several local enterprises was always the idea.

“We’re close to our original vision, after about two years,” Bowman said. “We had this vision of being in a community, as opposed to in a suburb or a strip mall or something like that. This worked out well, it’s five minutes from home, my daughter’s school is close by.”

Bowman hopes to grow both We Heart Winnipeg and House of Local as a go-to spot for East Kildonan residents and visitors alike to find a bit of local culture.

“We always had a vision of this collective with other local brands,” he said. “I’d like to get We Heart Winnipeg into just this space, and get another vendor into that other space. We’re just looking for the right fit, something that would complement us and we would complement them, and bring in some traffic. In the summer, we’ll be doing some pop-up markets outside in the parking lot. Maybe get some coffee-shop seating outside, maybe get a patio where the front yard is, where people can sit and have a coffee or ice cream.”

House of Local’s coffee shop is open weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The retail shops are open Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.