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Edmonton’s historic Italian Bakery reopens 3 years after fire destroyed business – Edmonton

Edmonton’s Italian Bakery celebrated its grand reopening Saturday, more than three years after a fire destroyed the Chinatown landmark.

Customers packed the store to celebrate the bakery’s return with a lion dance, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and free samples of pastries and meals.

“I just want to say ‘Edmonton this is for you. This is for you,’” owner Renato Frattin told Global News.

The family-run store business is now operating out of a new and improved space with more to offer.

“We never had pizza before. We never had fresh pasta and now we have opportunities to do that,’ Frattin said. “We never had produce, now we have that, too. So we kind of got the full package here.”

The Italian Bakery temporarily ceased operations in April 2020 after a fire ripped through much of its old building. Edmonton police confirmed arson was to blame.

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This was the family’s second encounter with a fire-related incident. Back in February 2016, a blaze tore through their 118 Avenue location.

Between construction delays and family circumstances, including the deaths of Renato’s parents and brother-in-law, the Chinatown location stayed closed longer than originally anticipated.

The bakery soft-launched about a month ago. Frattin is not only thrilled to make a comeback, but excited to see patrons waiting for the bakery’s return.

“I am so happy to see all the people here. The turnout is unbelievable,” he said.

“There were at least 100 people outside before the store even opened today. We’re so happy.”

Frattin’s parents, Antonio and Aurora Frattin, first opened the Italian Bakery in 1960. Frattin is grateful to see the business pass down through the generations.

“If you work hard, and you have good quality and consistency… time passes, and the next thing you know you’re like ‘Oh, I’m here,’” he said.

Anne Stevenson, city councillor for the O-day’min ward, was in attendance Saturday morning, saluted the bakery for its courage.

“This is a great example of how, as a community, we can go through exceptionally hard and challenging times and come through even stronger than before,” she said.

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Several other community partners were in attendance, including Chinatown Business Improvement Area co-chair Christina Trang and Edmonton police chief Dale McFee.

Trang

Paul Goddard’s Recipe for Success Has a Dash of Flexibility

On November 17, Canadian Business hosted a virtual fireside chat with Paul Goddard, president and CEO of Pizza Pizza, and SJC’s group publisher Jason Maghanoy.

Under Goddard’s leadership, Pizza Pizza has won a Webby Award for its app, along with numerous franchising and marketing awards, including being named one of Canada’s Most Admired Cultures in 2022 and Strategy Magazine’s Brand of the Year in 2023.

With an academic background in IT and engineering, Goddard began his career working at major organizations including Imperial Oil (Esso) and Morgan Stanley in the UK before returning to Canada to take up senior leadership roles in Canada’s energy industry. In 2009, Goddard joined as Chief Information Officer to “help out the family business”–Goddard’s father-in-law, Michael Overs, founded Pizza Pizza in 1967.

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With the accelerated future of work ushering in a panoply of new office models, Goddard has advanced a hybrid working arrangement with a flexible, trust-based approach based on Pizza Pizza’s PIE –profitability, innovation and engagement–strategy.

“We have high performance standards–we want you to get the job done, but we’re less concerned with where you get it done,” said Goddard. “You should realize that your creativity, team-building and impact are going to be limited if you’re completely remote, so we are nudging people to show us they can be productive while trusting in their capacity to achieve objectives.”

Goddard describes several areas where Pizza Pizza has prioritized innovation throughout the organization, from marketing to operations, including making their entire back office kitchen system paperless and providing live, last-mile order-tracking, to increase efficiency and profitability while better meeting its commitments to customers, like ‘40 minutes or its free’.

“It comes down to the visibility of our principals and values,” said Goddard. “If we treat our franchisees and employees well, we tell them what we want to achieve and we communicate a clear vision through goal-setting, then we can give them more latitude

Mastermind Toys sells most of business, closing 18 stores

Ailing toy retailer Mastermind GP Inc. says it has reached a deal to sell the bulk of its business to a company representing three big names in the Canadian retail world.

The Toronto-based chain announced Monday that it has signed an asset purchase agreement with Unity Acquisitions Inc., a company run by Joe Mimran, Frank Rocchetti and David Lui.

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Mastermind and Unity did not disclose the financial terms of their deal, which is still subject to court approval but is expected to close in January.

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The deal includes the majority of Mastermind Toys store locations and will allow a “significant” portion of the company’s 800 employees to continue with the business.

“The acquisition aligns with Unity’s strategy to enhance and grow extraordinary Canadian brands,” Joe Mimran said in a statement.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the team at Mastermind Toys and take the brand and the business to the next level.”

Mimran is best known for founding Club Monaco, creating the Joe Fresh brand for grocer Loblaw Companies Ltd., and in more recent years, helping revive hat business Tilley Endurables Inc. with Rocchetti.

Meanwhile, Lui has spent time at Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd.’s brands Sport Chek and Mark’s, and is chief executive of clothing retailer Kit and Ace, which the trio also own. The group also owns Casca Footwear, a premium shoe company from Vancouver.

Mastermind is owned by Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc. and has been facing increasing competition, disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and more recently, a deteriorating economy that has customers spending less.

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These factors have been so severe Mastermind has been trying to sell its business and last month filed for creditor protection.

The store began telling customers last week that it would close 18 of its 66 stores.

The stores closing include nine locations in Ontario, four in Alberta, two in New Brunswick and one each in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Manitoba.

An Ontario court granted Mastermind permission to liquidate stores last week, saying the sales must be wrapped up by Feb. 29.

Despite some stores closing, Mastermind says its holiday sales and promotions will continue. It has also introduced an extended holiday return and exchange policy for purchases made online and in stores, other than at the 18 stores conducting liquidation sales.

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Mastermind Toys to close 18 stores, will sell bulk of its business to Unity Acquisitions

Ailing toy retailer Mastermind GP Inc. says it has reached a deal to sell the bulk of its business to a company representing three big names in the Canadian retail world.

The Toronto-based chain announced Monday that it has signed an asset purchase agreement with Unity Acquisitions Inc., a company run by Joe Mimran, Frank Rocchetti and David Lui.

Mastermind and Unity did not disclose the financial terms of their deal, which is still subject to court approval but is expected to close in January.

The deal includes the majority of Mastermind Toys store locations and will allow a “significant” portion of the company’s 800 employees to continue with the business.

A representative for Mastermind Toys said the exact number of jobs impacted by the closures has not been finalized. The company also declined an interview with CBC News.

“The acquisition aligns with Unity’s strategy to enhance and grow extraordinary Canadian brands,” Joe Mimran said in a statement.

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“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the team at Mastermind Toys and take the brand and the business to the next level.”

Retail Insider Media publisher Craig Patterson told CBC News he was surprised to see Unity Acquisitions buy Mastermind, given that the acquisitions firm has a foothold in the fashion retail world.

“If they’re bringing on a toy retailer then it looks like Unity could be maybe looking to diversify its holdings and who knows [what] they may acquire next,” Patterson said.

Unity has “a really good leadership team behind them that has seen success with retail across all kinds of different businesses in the past,” he added.

Filed for creditor protection last month

The Canadian toy retailer filed for creditor protection on Nov. 24 — Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year.

Mastermind is owned by Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc. and has been facing increasing