Scoop n/ Weigh
When Linda Klimack bought Scoop n’ Weigh 15 years ago, the 2,400 sq ft bulk food establishment catered to Winnipeggers who were searching for unusual baking flours such as buckwheat and gluten-free varieties and gourmet ingredients like pink salt. While the store gained merit as the city’s bulk food leader by providing an efficient, economical way to buy groceries, they also catered to a niche market of retired chefs and bakers who still had love for the finer ingredients. Supply and demand amassed the need for a bigger space, and five years ago Linda moved from her Grant Ave building to a spacious 7,800 sq ft store on Taylor Ave, doubling the size. With the expansion, the family-run business now supplies to a whole new field of customers. “I had to add two bicycle racks to the front of the store,” explains Linda, who is enjoying her healthy, active clientele. With products ranging from dried milk, oils and vinegars to herbs, baking supplies, flour of almost every variety, nut butters, kitchen accessories and chef tools, this bulk shop is diverse. The self-proclaimed candy store for grown-ups also boasts fair-trade chocolate, teas and coffees, carries local products such as La Cocina corn chips and Wild Man Rice soups, and bring in fresh-baked breads from Crusty Bun every Friday. Not only do they carry amazing bulk groceries, Scoop n’ Weigh’s products cost less than their packaged competitors while prevent a large amount of plastic waste from entering landfills. It’s this dedication to wasteless grocery shopping and local goods that has garnered the bustling store the Good Food Manitoba Award for Retailer of the Year. “I am passionate about cooking and finding special ingredients,” says Linda, and customers alike, chef or not, are thankful that she created this assorted candy store, just for us grown ups. —EC