Juniper Cafe hosts close-out sale, selling recipe book to continue legacy of community
Edmontonians lined the street outside a south-central cafe Saturday for a chance to purchase baking, furniture, and small wares and say farewell to the popular community gathering place.
Juniper Cafe & Bistro hosted a sale selling everything from baking, mugs, cups, wall decor, to tables and chairs as a final fundraiser to help owners Kenny Dario and Enid Dufresne-Dario.
The cafe announced earlier this year that it would close its doors for good after the property owners initiated plans to redevelop the Strathearn Centre strip mall.
"It's just been seven years of amazing stories and lots of emotion," Enid told CTV News Edmonton. "We visioned that this would be a place where neighbours would meet other nieghbours, and it happened on a daily basis.
"There were neighbours who lived by each other for years and never gone for coffee before," she added. "And they had their first coffee together here."
Enid shared how the cafe helped create new social bonds between community members, with several having first dates or getting married at the bistro — with even one woman starting to go into labour while enjoying her breakfast.
"We love community," Enid said. "We are just so grateful for the support."
Kenny shared how the local coffee shop had several years of difficulty, starting with LRT construction disruptions to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We have decided (now) to just step back and regain our composure if you will," Kenny added. "Just going to breathe for a minute."
"Now, we just need to sell some things, get some debt paid off, and see what the next chapter looks like," Enid echoed.
The cafe is creating a recipe book that shares stories and how to make its signature dishes.
"(It will have) the recipes, the exact ones they cooked with, and pictures of it," said Tanni Cyr, who is helping with the project.
"There's so many things that have happened at Juniper," Cyr added. "We want to keep this community going. We may not have a location, but we still have the community."
Visit Juniper's website to share a memory from the cafe or pre-order the recipe book.
Cyr said she was surprised to see the large turnout for the final sale of the bistro's wares.
"The support has been amazing," she added. "We have people wanting to buy little bits of Juniper just to remind them and remember the feeling of community when they would come here."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
The pros and cons of discussing mental health issues in the workplace
A group of lawyers has written what they call a groundbreaking book about how mental health is perceived in the legal profession.
Explosion at train station leads to discovery of stolen car on Montreal's South Shore: police
Police are investigating after a BMW exploded in the St-Lambert Exo train station parking lot on Montreal's South Shore.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
A candidate for Germany's key party was beaten up while campaigning for European elections
A candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left party in next month's election for the European Parliament was beaten up and seriously injured while campaigning in an eastern city, the party said Saturday.
Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.