Almost made to 100, but 99 years is a pretty impressive run for a bakery. It was know as the ‘Winnipeg-style rye bread,’ and the city’s oldest, has closed down its locations today. KUB Bakery posted a notice on the door of its store saying, “It is with profound sadness that we inform you that KUB Bakery will be ceasing operations and closing its doors on November 16, 2022.” However, co-owner Ross Einfeld says that once word started spreading on social media Winnipeggers showed up in droves and bought them out of every loaf of bread, and as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, November 15, they ceased operations.
“It was very strange when we shut that door yesterday,” Ross Einfeld, who runs the bakery. “The emotions range from anger, to sadness, to happiness – all sorts of things.” Einfeld says that the business was effectively a victim of the pandemic and recent racing inflation. “We lost every restaurant in the city we had,” he says about places the bakery supplied. To make matters worse, the bakery was also the supplier of IG Field, Canda Life Centre, and Shaw Park. When pro sports were shut down they lost even more income. The market changed significantly, he says, not only with rising costs but having to deal with large retail outlets. “You effectively worked for (the big box stores). They set your prices. Gone were the days where you went and showed a grocer your prices. They told you what they would pay you and if you didn’t agree they just wouldn’t carry you.”
For some history, Kub opened its doors in 1923 with a group of four business partners: Alex Kucher; A. Andrychuk; N. Doskuch; and L. Stoyich. Before 1924 Kucher bought out his partners and renamed the bakery Kucher’s Ukrainian Bakery or KUB for short. In 1982 Ross Einfeld’s father purchased the bakery and the family had been running it for the past 40 years. He says that when he looks back over the past 40 years it was the customers that kept him going.
What does the future hold? For now, the family has sold their building on Erin Street and is preparing to move all of their equipment out in preparation for the new owners. For Ross Einfeld, he says the closing is “a double-edged sword.” After 40 years of working non-stop and being on call 24/7, he says a bit of a break will be welcome.
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