'People seem to want to get out and spoil themselves' Windsor bar owner thrilled to be busy
With lockdowns behind them, the owner of a Windsor bar is excited for what the future holds.
Mark Dutka, owner of Maiden Lane Wine & Spirts, admits the pandemic was “scary.”
“We opened our business and less than a year later we were shut down. This is how we feed our family,” Dutka says.
Maiden Lane Wine & Spirits creates unique cocktails and drinks from a vast and in some cases, rare, selection of alcohol from around the world.
Dutka says they “pivoted” to cocktail deliveries, expanded their patio and opened a rare wine bottle shop at their downtown Windsor bar.
They don’t have to deliver anymore, because the customers are coming to them now and keeping the staff busy.
“People seem to want to get out and spoil themselves a little bit and have us take care of them, and have us make them drinks instead of making their drinks at home.”
A surge in business is something the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association has noticed as well, according to Chair Brian Yeomans.
“They’re saying they’re seeing people from out of town that are starting to come back in again,” he says.
Yet Yeomans notes locals are still enjoying their city.
“This is how we prove how important local shopping is,” says Yeomans.
“When you survive a pandemic for 16 months, because of that local support, if we continue that, in addition to the tourism, I’m so excited to see that.”
And there’s more hope on the horizon as the Canadian land border will reopen to vaccinated Americans on Aug. 15.
“Once that border opens, I anticipate a real up-turn in our business,” says Tom O’Brien, owner of Coopers Hawk Vineyards in Essex.
O’Brien says before the pandemic, 18 per cent of their business was to American customers, either buying wine or enjoying at meal at their on-site restaurant.
“We’re going to have a good tourism season I think.” says O’Brien.
“I think people want to get out. I think they want to go someplace safe, they want to feel spacious and comfortable.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.