3 beloved Winnipeg Beach businesses hit the real estate market

Three large pieces of Winnipeg Beach commercial real estate have hit the market ahead of the busy tourist season.

There are currently active listings for the Beach Handi-Mart on Highway 9, the Interlake Garden Centre on Quarter Mile Road and the mixed-use building that housed Playland, the community’s Main Street arcade.

Calvin Kuch is one of the realtors listing the Handi-Mart property. He calls it a staple of the community, and knows the business can be a boon with the right ownership.

“It was kind of an institution in the community for a long time. (It was) incredibly well run by the previous owners,” he said, noting they ran it for decades before retiring.

The Beach Handi-Mart is shown in an undated photo. (Interlake Real Estate)

The property is being sold as is, and boasts a large retail floor space with a deck and parking. It's listed for $209,900.

The Winnipeg Beach Garden Centre, meantime, has been profitable for 27 years, according to its listing.

The property features a retail store, four state-of-the-art greenhouses, plus an overflow greenhouse, a germination building, a prep and production building, a storage shed and several smaller outbuildings. The $1.35 million listing price also includes equipment, a vehicle and a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home.

“With a bustling spring season and more relaxed summers, you'll have plenty of time to travel or unwind during fall and winter,” the listing reads.

The Interlake Garden Centre is shown in an undated photo. (Coldwell Banker Preferred Real Estate)

Information on the Playland property is a bit more limited, and realtors for the property did not return CTV Winnipeg’s request for comment.

Its listing says the just over 5,000-square-foot property on a prime beach-front lot has retail space, a residential suite and street parking. It’s currently up for grabs for $375,000.

According to Heritage Manitoba, the two-storey building was built in 1939 as a business, doling out fast food and entertainment to visitors and cottagers for over 50 years.

“Playland is a good reminder of the type seen in so many small Manitoba towns, with a large squarish façade punctuated with simple rectangular windows, but with a slight variation: the use of large main-floor openings that would be lifted in the summer months to create a seamless transition between the sidewalk and the joyous noises within,” the organization writes in a report on Winnipeg Beach’s significant heritage buildings.

The building that houses Playland, Winnipeg Beach's arcade, is shown in an undated photo. (Capital Commercial Real Estate Services Inc.)

Winnipeg Beach has had ‘mini renaissance’: realtor

Meantime, Kuch said Winnipeg Beach is currently basking in the after-glow of a post-pandemic boom.

“The beach has had like a little mini renaissance that businesses have done incredibly well there.”

He notes with its close proximity to Winnipeg – usually a 45 minute drive depending on traffic, it’s become almost a bedroom community of the city.

He says prior to COVID, most properties in Winnipeg Beach were sold as second homes for cottagers. Now, nearly half are primary residences for people looking to ditch the city for good.

“It's a great area,” he said.

“It's got a beautiful beach. It's got great facilities out that way. I love it. My wife and I are originally both from Winnipeg, and you couldn't pay us to move back to the city.”