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New food pop-up on Whyte Ave. meant to ‘meet people where they're at'
New food pop-up on Whyte Ave. meant to ‘meet people where they're at'

CTV News

time11-07-2025

  • Business
  • CTV News

New food pop-up on Whyte Ave. meant to ‘meet people where they're at'

The Hub on Whyte currently features Beb's Bagels and Balay Coffee. July 11, 2025. (CTV News Edmonton) There's a new restaurant space on Whyte Avenue that wants to give small businesses a place to call home for the summer. The Hub on Whyte was opened Friday by Peter Keith and Glendon Tan, who said they've been sitting on the concept of an inclusive hub for restaurateurs since 2015. The Hub features community pop-ups and provides room for up-and-coming chefs in a 'collaborative culinary space.' Peter Keith - The Hub on Whyte Peter Keith (pictured) and his business partner, Glendon Tan, came up with the idea of The Hub in 2015. Now the space is open as of July 11, 2025. (CTV News Edmonton) 'Restaurants are very expensive to open, food entrepreneurs need to raise a lot of money and make a pretty long-term commitment to have their own place,' said Keith. 'The hub is meant to help bridge that gap.' Currently featured in the space for the summer are local companies Beb's Bagels and Balay Coffee. Keith said The Hub intends to be 'flexible' on how long companies operate out of the space. 'Our goal is to make it easy for them, make it accessible, and kind of meet people where they're at,' he said. Lindon Carter, co-owner of Beb's Bagels, said the hub is a welcome change of pace after jumping from kitchen to kitchen with his business partner Luke Breiteneder. 'It's pretty special … it's pretty hard to be a small business, and especially in a restaurant, taking on the responsibility of a brick and mortar is very daunting,' he said. Carter said the location, on bustling Whyte Avenue, is a prime space for a bagel shop. They also work out of several coffee shops in the area. Each company that operates out of The Hub works as an independent business – meaning visitors need to check individual social media or websites to see times. The Hub inside Customers began to file in to The Hub for a bagel or a coffee on July 11, 2025. (CTV News Edmonton) That doesn't deter customers like Darian Araujo. 'I'm here for the [Whyte Avenue Art Walk] for the next two days, so I'm definitely coming back for more bagels … and also coming for the drinks too,' said Araujo. 'I think it's an awesome thing.' Keith and Tan also co-own Meuwly's, a catering company dealing in charcuterie and smoked meats in the Westmount neighbourhood. Keith said that their first business helped them gain the experience they needed before they ventured into supporting other businesses almost a decade later. With files from CTV News Edmonton's Marek Tkach

‘The community wanted this': New Whyte Ave store sells only upcycled clothes
‘The community wanted this': New Whyte Ave store sells only upcycled clothes

CTV News

time06-07-2025

  • Business
  • CTV News

‘The community wanted this': New Whyte Ave store sells only upcycled clothes

Canadians are trashing millions of pieces of clothing each year, but some designers at the Welded Hanger in Edmonton are turning some of those pieces into art. One of Whyte Avenue's newest businesses is a clothing store that only sells locally made upcycled fashions. Welded Hanger started out as an online consignment store, but shortly after opening the brick-and-mortar space at 10336-82 Ave. in March, owner Chantal Duval realized she had overlooked its true potential. 'I just started to get more and more customers coming in, requesting items from a small upcycled rack that I had,' she told CTV News Edmonton in a recent interview. 'The community wanted this store to be this and I went with it – and now here we are: 100 per cent upcycled.' Welded Hanger sells items made by four local designers – cL Creations, Pondhopper Remixed, AWRY Studio and De Kill Designs – plus a new designer each month. Welded Hanger Welded Hanger owner Chantal Duval, left, and De Kill Designs founder Emily Whistance-Smith look through items at the upcycled shop on Whyte Avenue on July 3, 2025. (Nahreman Issa / CTV News Edmonton) Their creations are often made from pieces of discarded or thrifted garments which were damaged. 'I look for the saddest objects, the ones that have a stain or a rip and just need a new life,' said Lorraine Dezman, the woman behind Pondhopper Remixed. She started upcycling to do just that: give a second life to her young son's favourite graphic T-shirt. 'He'd worn it to death, but he loved the graphic on it, so he said, 'Mom, can you buy a new T-shirt and put this on there?' I really had never sewed before, but I tried it, and it turned out. And he loved it and wore it for years afterwards,' Dezman recalled. 'It started something in my head: You could do a lot of neat things with this.… And it also made me realize how much clothing is discarded all the time and where it ends up. And that's very sad.' According to a University of Waterloo study of the fraction of textile waste in Canada that could be reused or recycled, Canadians trash about 500 million kilograms of fabric items – clothing, but also accessories, soft toys, home textiles and more – each year. The researchers concluded more than half could be reused and nearly a quarter could be recycled. 'I want people to really shift that narrative. Just because you want something that's new and that exciting feeling, you can get that in a sustainable way,' said De Kill Designs founder Emily Whistance-Smith. She believes personal style is play as much as it is self expression. 'Funnily enough, in high school I had a mullet and I was wearing, like, granny sweaters,' the designer recalled. '(It) has taken me a lot to adjust to the fact that that's the most popular style now and I was, like, relentlessly bullied for that.... It just kind of shows you that there's never a right or wrong time to just be yourself.' Welded Hanger Lorraine Dezman, the designer behind upcycled clothing brand Pondhopper Remixed, holds up a cropped vest for sale at Edmonton's Welded Hanger shop on July 3, 2025. (Nahreman Issa / CTV News Edmonton) In fact, each upcycled piece being a totally rare, one-of-a-kind item is part of the draw. 'It's like wearable art,' Duval said. 'There's a lot of generic styles out there right now and this gives individuals who want to express themselves a little more by wearing a unique piece … the opportunity to do so. When I say that people light up when they find their piece, I think it's because they're inspired by it. It gives them a sense of pride when they put it on.' Which, in turn, makes her proud. Throughout 20 years in supply chain management in Alberta's energy industry and then the beauty industry, Duval says she never felt like she fit in. Her store seeks to serve people of all genders, economic statuses and styles. 'I want this space to be a safe space where people can come and be themselves.' The upcyclers hope to inspire others to try it on their own. 'I want people to see my stuff and say, 'Maybe I could do that,' because that's putting the power back in the consumers' hands,' Whistance-Smith said. Dezman added, 'What's the worst that can happen? The piece is already perhaps damaged. You can't go wrong.' With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nahreman Issa

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