'They really foster community support': New café with a focus on supporting local
Felice Café has been open for just one month and local vendors are already seeing a boost in business because of it.
Owner Michelle Brouwer left the medical field to open the café.
“We love good food, live music, supporting local and I just wound them all together in a café,” said Brouwer.
“There has been a lot of lessons to learn but so far it's been really great and positive.”
She wanted to make a space where the focus of everything, from the food to the drinks and other products on the shelves, was supporting local.
“We love the Stadium Yards' philosophy about supporting community and promoting community,” said Brouwer. “They wanted someone in this space that would bring people out of their apartments to be involved and be part of their community and that’s exactly what we wanted to do here.”
Brouwer said she comes from an entrepreneur family and knows first-hand the positive impact shopping local can have on a community.
“One of the good things coming out of COVID is that people have changed their perspectives and they’re looking to support local,” said Brouwer. “To make that easier for them just made sense.
“We’ve had an overwhelming positive response so far.”
Market for local vendors at Felice Café. Friday May 27, 2022 (CTV News Edmonton)
In addition to the coffee and food, the café also features a market for local vendors to show off their goods.
“I don’t have a physical retail space that I operate out of so it’s really great to be a part of this space, it’s so beautiful and they really foster community support,” said Titi Fueston, the owner of Tikkhu Jewelry. “Supporting local is really big in Edmonton and it’s getting bigger.”
“There’s not too many avenues for us to showcase our product without opening our own storefront, which is a huge investment that not many of us are able to do,” added Alysia Lok, the owner of Caramunchies.
“The foot traffic and everything, just exposure in general, people coming across our products, and then seeing us at markets or online. The more they’ve seen us, they'll eventually try it and fall in love with our product.”
Fueston and Lok plan to keep selling their products out of Felice Café as long as they’re able to.
“That’s been the funnest part of this journey so far, interactive with the other business owners, because they bring such a different perspective. We chat often about how we can better support each other,” said Brouwer.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.