Late this summer, two Penticton women already known in the community for their existing business will achieve a mutual dream when they open a coffee shop together in The Cannery Trade Centre.
It'll be called "One14 Coffee Co," and not only will it be situated inside one of the quirkiest and most historically interesting addresses in town, it'll reside in the exact same unit where for a decade and a half expert baker Ben Manea and wife Sharon Wiener ran their iconic Walla Bakery before Ben's passing in 2019.
To say that One14's owners are wading into storied ground is an obvious understatement. More than that though, the move is the latest evidence that something interesting is going down at the aging but enormous complex of buildings that once housed the region's premier fruit canning facility.
Indeed, it could be called a renaissance of sorts. A renaissance driven by women.
Just look at some of the recent activity.
In June of 2018, Penticton's Leanne Nash and René Mehrer moved the artsy online auction biz they'd started from their homes into a big Cannery space that previously housed an engine repair shop. They called it 4th Meridian Art & Auctions and have since substantially expanded their scope and inventory.
In October of 2020, lower mainland imports Alexis Esseltine and hubby Tim Scoon bought the oldest craft brewery in the region, Tin Whistle, and set out to liven it up. With Esseltine leading the way, it's a process that successfully continues today.
In the spring on 2022, Penticton potter and artist Carla O'Bee moved into a big, vacant space on the Cannery top floor and called her brand new studio Speckled Row. She now has 18 potters working out of what has quickly become an artist hot spot.
In the winter of 2022, Black Rabbit Fabrics owner Yvonne King organized a first for the Cannery -- a two-day indoor Christmas market that spanned the entire complex, ultimately jammed the hallways and benefitted the Salvation Army Food Bank. She said it'll happen again this year.
Just last week, ex-Maple Ridge resident Jessie Brennan, with the help of hubby Travis Whitlock, held the official grand opening ceremony of her artist rental space venture Donut House Studios. She's filled eight of 18 spots already.
And now, One14 Coffee Co. is on the way. Put it all together and you've got some serious female-led life being breathed into the industrial/funky Cannery confines.
It's not like the Cannery's been suffering. With entities like Many Hats Theatre, the Nest restaurant, Peach City Radio, several dance studios and a wide array of services, the place is loaded with viable businesses.
But there's also a lot of quiet at the Cannery, particularly in that long interior passageway that runs from one end to the other. Walk it most days of the week and you'll feel rather lonely.
And that's something this new breed wants to change. They want to turn the place into what the Cannery has repeatedly been called in the past -- an indoor take on Vancouver's Granville Island. But this time with the crowds.
Laura Chapman and Katie Hurley, the duo behind One14 Coffee Co., aren’t newcomers to the address. Their other business, event equipment rental service Ellie Wylde Design Co., is a Cannery staple. And that gives them some insight into the place.
"Just us being here, we've gotten close with the other business owners," said Chapman. "And we all meet and talk about getting more foot traffic inside. There's so much potential here. We're all invested, we love the history, we love each other.
"But not enough people come to check it out and we wondered what was missing. And this is one of the things we figured was missing -- a cool escape. A coffee shop. A place to sit and be social. Grab and go lunches. That kind of thing."
Hurley's perspective also comes from her mom-ness.
"My daughter goes to the dance school here," she said, "and I'd come in every Saturday with my coffee from home. And other parents would come in with their Tim Hortons.
"So there's a huge opportunity just within the building. There's so much that goes on during the weekends. There's already a captive audience, and we want to grow that with people who don’t necessarily come here all the time."
They hope a cool ambience is a good start toward that goal.
"One of the biggest things about drawing a crowd is the design," said Chapman. "So with us, there'll be a feeling of a bit of an escape. Think 60s art deco. A Miami vibe. Make it comfortable. Make it interesting."
Hurley's all about the product.
"When I go to coffee shops," she said, "I get sick of the baked goods all being so sweet. So we want to be as creative as possible with our baked goods, and offer equivalent amounts of savoury versus sweet. It definitely won't be what you'll find at every other coffee shop.
"And our menu will be growing. We eventually want to do grab and go salads and sandwiches. As for coffee, we'll offer regular blends, but we’ll also have Vietnamese coffees. We'll offer coffee alternatives like Blume and herbal teas like Teatox Pro."
When One14 (so named because it's in unit #114) debuts by late August, it will do so with a smallish customer seating area -- perhaps just a couple of tables -- in the main Cannery passageway.
But by fall the back end of the shop will open to reveal seating for 30 more customers. And sometime in the future, there may even be an industrial-ish patio at the rear loading dock area.
Handling the baking duties will be Heather Jefferys of "Handful," working on site to create goodies not only for Chapman and Hurley, but for her own biz too.
And Jefferys won't be the only baker in the One14 space. Also there, subletting a space within the space, will be Dana Ewart, currently selling her wares at the Penticton Farmers' Market.
"If you count Blume and Teatox and our bakers, we're helping support five or six female-run businesses just at our place," said Hurley.
Meanwhile just down the hall at Donut House Studios, where artists, creative people and anyone who can benefit from a little alone time can rent personalized chunks of studio space, co-owner and Maple Ridge transplant Jessie Brennan is a Cannery super-fan.
"I love the history of the place," she said. "It was one of the top employers of women back in the days when women couldn’t really work. And then I met Carla (O'Bee, of Speckled Row, upstairs), who inspired me to start this kind of business here in Penticton."
In fact, her memorable company name comes from an old-timey sign she found hanging on the wall when she moved into her new digs in February.
"We moved (to Penticton) at the beginning of the pandemic," said the former film and TV makeup artist, "and with COVID all around it took awhile to figure out what to do.
"So I started working upstairs at Speckled Row, and immediately knew I loved working at the Cannery. I love historical buildings, the refurbishment of them, keeping the history but making it new and relevant.
"And that sign was already here. So we chose that as our name."
The methodology behind Donut House Studios is pretty straightforward. Folks just starting out and/or with limited financial backing who can't afford standalone spaces can conceivably afford smaller slices of big spaces.
"Our new ceramic artist," said Brennan, "it's her full-time job. But she'd been doing in it on her dining room table. And now she has a dedicated space.
"We currently have a few people who are full time artists, and some who are hobby artists. We have writers, sewers, painters, and more. We're open to all creative people."
Donut House is also open to the public, but only for special events at designated times.
"We hope to be doing public events once or twice a month," said Brennan. "Carla will do her summer clay camps here. We're working on a music event at the end of June. Someone's booked an open house market. And then the rest of the time it's a studio space."
But Brennan knows the address needs more foot traffic to exude some of that Granville Island vibe.
"Last month we all agreed we're going to start to do monthly meetings where we brainstorm about events and how we're networking together, how we're going to promote all of us," she said.
"Right now the Cannery is transitioning from industrial to public space and everyone wants more foot traffic, more fun stuff going on in here. Like what Alexis is doing at Tin Whistle and the new food truck. And the new coffee shop. We need these businesses where people can come into all the time."
One other thing about Donut House. As of this writing, every single renter, every member of the DH community is female.
All the recent developments come as great news to people like 4th Meridian's Leanne Nash, who, with co-owner René Mehrer, set the stage five years ago for the women who've followed.
"Even Granville Island has offices and trades," she said. "We have them too and there's no reason the Cannery can't morph into the same kind of destination. And now with Donut House and the coffee shop, that really changes the game."
For Yvonne King at Black Rabbit Fabrics, who moved her home-based operation to the Cannery three years ago and will once again run the hugely popular "Christmas Craft Fair" in mid-November, the prognosis has never looked better..
"It's changing," she said. "There's more life coming into it now. We're collaborating more, working together to bring more into the building. It nice that we're all coming in with fresh ideas and that we're working with each other."
Ditto Tin Whistle's Alexis Esseltine, who's worked since the 2020 ownership changeover to turn the brewery into an indoor/outdoor sit and sip destination.
"Granville Island, that’s the vision for this building," she said. "And we're getting there…and it's mostly women doing it."
As for Speckled Row's Carla O'Bee, who spent time as program coordinator at the Penticton Art Gallery before taking her home-based pottery studio to the big time in February of 2022, life is good.
"I always wanted to be here," she said. "I've always loved the industrial vibe, and I like how it's so community minded here.
"I feel safe here. It's locked up at night. I was on the wait list for about eight months for this space. It was like a dream when it opened."
