It's been a fixture in the community for nearly a century. The Ukrainian Co-op is celebrating its 80th anniversary year. Known for its deli, and food imported from Eastern Europe, the store opened in 1937 by members of Regina’s Ukrainian community.
“They got together and decided that the community needed a store like this, it needed to be member owned,” said manager Carin Rodgers.
Vera Feduschak's father was one of the first butchers at the shop. She has been researching the store’s history for years, and currently sits on the co-op’s board of directors.
“We make the assumption that (the store opened) because the cooperative movement started here in the ‘30s,” said Feduschak. “But, in doing a study of the history of cooperatives, I found that there were cooperatives in the country or the part of (Ukraine) where most of these people came from.”
The store started out in a rented house on the corner of Winnipeg Street and 11th Avenue. It spread over the years, with members of the community donating funds to buy the property, and later, add building expansions.
Now, eight decades later, the store is still going strong, attracting people from all backgrounds.
“We’re very proud of the quality of the product we put out, the consistency (and) the customer service,” said Rodgers. “One of our mottos is: we refuse to charge anybody any more for anything because of an allergy or an illness or a preference.”
It's something that keeps customers coming back, and has many hoping the legacy lasts another 80 years.
“It’s the best deli in the city,” said Joe Majkut, who has been shopping at the Ukrainian Co-op for 50 years. “Even when I'm on a diet or whatever, and I say I can't do it, when I drive past 11th Avenue and Winnipeg (Street) here, and I smell that smoker, the car automatically stops and I just jump in here for something quick.”
