Arby’s, the sandwich shop known for slow roasted roast beef, turkey, and premium Angus beef sandwiches, is coming back to Winnipeg!
The last Arby’s in Winnipeg was at Kildonan Place in 2020, and the pandemic led to its closure. It had its share of fans in Winnipeg, who missed its locations at Polo Park. Winnipeggers have been very vocal about the absence of Arby’s. Still, Canada does have 56 of them in the country, and by fall, there will be one more located along Sterling Lyon in the Outlet Collection Mall parking lot where the Bank of Montreal and Red River Co-op Store are situated.
Manitobans have been known to drive to Saskatoon for Arby’s, although one recently closed there. Many restaurants have struggled through COVID, and the post-COVID period has been tough to establish customers where they live and work.
The construction at Seasons of Tuxedo and around Seasons has never stopped, but it is coming down to just a few places left to build. Krispy Kreme is almost complete, and now Arby’s is under construction. Neither should have difficulty finding people. Many people actually live footsteps away, and the traffic along Kenaston and Sterling Lyon is strong.
It is odd what inspires confidence in a city, an economy, or ourselves. Sometimes it is a park, a team, a restaurant, or a school. We do know what happens when you lose that team, that park, or restaurant. Winnipeg has taken its knocks, but it is easy to forget that in 2019 things were going fairly well in the city and the province.
The final pieces of the Seasons construction are very close to completion. Arby’s being ready in the fall will generate a lot of traffic, which will be good for every other business and resident in the area. It will bring in a lot of tax money compared to the Tuxedo Yards rail container depot that once existed there. This is a thought when considering the social impact of what has happened at the East Yards (The Forks), the Tuxedo Yards (Seasons), and the Fort Rouge Yards (The Southwest Transit Corridor). One can imagine if the Weston Yards ever became available.
Arby’s is welcomed back. We suspect we will continue to see announcements of this kind over the next months. However, inflation has hit the building trades, and it is a lot slower getting things built. However, we should see some more projects as demand warrants.
This has been a guest editorial by John Dobbin.
To read more from John, visit his blog Observations, Reservations, Conversations
