Tucker's Marketplace

Last updated
Tucker's Marketplace
FormerlyMother Tucker's Food Experience
Company type Private
Industry Buffet restaurant
Headquarters
Canada
Number of locations
1 (2023)

Tucker's Marketplace is an buffet restaurant in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It opened in 2023. [1]

Contents

Previously it was a chain of restaurants, with locations in Burlington, Mississauga, , Pickering, and Toronto. It was founded decades earlier as Mother Tucker's Food Experience, an à la carte restaurant. The company ceased operations in June 2020, a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the buffet format. On January 24, 2023, the company announced the Ottawa location would re-open on January 25, 2023. [1] The restaurant's name is a reference to a colloquial expression in British English; "tuck in" meaning to commence the consumption of a large meal.

Mother Tucker's Food Experience

Winnipeg entrepreneur Oscar Grubert opened the first location in February 1976, [2] in downtown Edmonton, at 10184 104 Street. [3] Its location was a brick warehouse built in 1927. According to The Globe and Mail, "The interior is a dimly lit rabbit warren (lined with barn siding, criss-crossed with huge wooden beams) of alcoves holding two, three or four tables. A cosy friendly atmosphere prevails amid an extraordinary clutter of such things as old cream separators, barrels, haymow hoists, washing machines, crocks, pots, teakettles, copper boilers and suchlike." [4] The location was à la carte. [4] The Globe and Mail described the chain as a "traditional roadhouse" in 1984, comparing it to Kelsey's and The Keg. [5] Winnipeg and Calgary locations were opened within the first year, [6] [7] the latter replacing a location of Grubert's Butcher Block restaurant. [8] [9]

As of 1980, the company was headquartered in Winnipeg, [10] likely a result of being owned by Champs Food Systems. [11] It looked to expand into the United States. [10] By 1981, the company intended to move its headquarters to the US within three years. [12] In 1989, the Scarborough, Ontario chain solicited for franchisees. [13]

Locations

As of 1984, the chain had 21 locations. [14]

Tucker's Marketplace

In 1994, the chain rebooted as Tucker's Marketplace. Largely a buffet split into themed stations, it continued to offer some table service items, including prime rib. [15] Stations were dubbed "shops", including The Corner Baker, The Green Grocer, The CookStove, Carvery & Co, and The Ice Cream Stand. [16] [17]

The new brand was created by Mother Tucker's Food Experience (Canada) Ltd. [18] and Working Ventures Canadian Fund Inc., as Newgen Restaurant Services. [16] [19] Nolan Grubert was named its president. [16] The goal was to expand to 25 locations in Ontario and Quebec. [16] As of 2018, the Tucker's Marketplace chain was still owned by Newgen. [20]

As of the early 2000s, its tagline was "Here's Your Plate, Go Crazy." [21]

Beginning in March 2020, the chain posted an open letter on its website, suggesting it would stay closed "until concern about the coronavirus, Covid-19 begins to ease." [22] [23] On June 25, 2020, an open letter was posted stating that due to Covid-19 "we will not be reopening our restaurants." [24] The closure was announced chain-wide in late June, with the restaurant stating "that there is not a profitable path forward for our business." [25] [26]

The Ottawa location was confirmed to close on June 11, 2020 by CTV News Ottawa, [27] [28] but later was announced to re-open on January 25, 2023. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Television Network</span> Canadian broadcast TV network

The Global Television Network is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after CTV, and has fifteen owned-and-operated stations throughout the country. Global is owned by Corus Entertainment — the media holdings of JR Shaw and other members of his family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Hortons</span> Multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain

Tim Hortons Inc., known colloquially as Tim's, Timmies, or Timmy's, is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain with headquarters in Toronto; it serves coffee, donuts, sandwiches, breakfast egg muffins and other fast-food items. It is Canada's largest quick-service restaurant chain, with 5,701 restaurants in 13 countries, as of September 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citytv</span> Canadian television network owned by Rogers Communications

Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consists of six owned-and-operated (O&O) television stations located in the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, a cable-only service that serves the province of Saskatchewan, and three independently owned affiliates serving smaller cities in Alberta and British Columbia. There is also one station using the brand name serving Bogotá, Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zellers</span> Canadian retail company

Zellers was a Canadian discount store chain founded by Walter P. Zeller in 1931. It was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1978, and after a series of acquisitions and expansions, peaked with 350 locations in 1999. However, fierce competition and an inability to adapt during the early stages of the retail apocalypse resulted in Zellers losing significant ground in the 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hudson's Bay (department store)</span> Canadian department store chain

Hudson's Bay, also known as The Bay, is a Canadian department store chain. It is the flagship brand of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), the oldest and longest-surviving company in North America as well as one of the oldest and largest continuously operating companies in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eaton's</span> Canadian retailer

The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's and then Eaton, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying-offices around the globe, and a mail-order catalog that was found in the homes of most Canadians. A changing economic and retail environment in the late twentieth century, along with mismanagement, culminated in the chain's bankruptcy in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CHMI-DT</span> Citytv station in Portage la Prairie/Winnipeg, Manitoba

CHMI-DT is a television station licensed to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada, broadcasting the Citytv network to the Winnipeg area. Owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media, the station has studios at 8 Forks Market Road in downtown Winnipeg, and its transmitter is located adjacent to Bohn Road in Cartier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKEM-DT</span> TV station in Edmonton

CKEM-DT is a television station in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, part of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television station CJEO-DT. The two stations share studios with Rogers's local radio stations on Gateway Boulevard in Edmonton; CKEM-DT's transmitter is located near Yellowhead Highway/Highway 16A. The station also operates a rebroadcast transmitter in Red Deer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaw Communications</span> Former Canadian communications company

Shaw Communications Inc. was a Canadian telecommunications company which provided telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. The company was founded in 1966 as Capital Cable Television Company, Ltd. by JR Shaw in Edmonton. The company was acquired by and amalgamated into Rogers Communications in 2023; most operations were rebranded to the Rogers brand beginning in July of that year, with services and sponsorships in former Shaw markets having used the transitional brand Rogers together with Shaw for promotional purposes.

<i>Winnipeg Sun</i> Daily newspaper in Winnipeg, Canada

The Winnipeg Sun is a daily tabloid newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Bretton's was a high-end department store in Canada from 1985 to 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodward's</span> Department store chain in western Canada

Woodward's Stores Ltd. was a department store chain that operated in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, for 101 years, before its sale to the Hudson's Bay Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cineplex Entertainment</span> Canadian entertainment company

Cineplex Inc. is a Canadian operator of movie theater and family entertainment centers, headquartered in Toronto. It is the largest cinema chain in Canada; as of 2019, it operated 165 locations, and accounted for 75% of the domestic box office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Chinese cuisine</span> Chinese cuisine developed by Chinese Canadians

Canadian Chinese cuisine is a cuisine derived from Chinese cuisine that was developed by Chinese Canadians. It was the first form of commercially available Chinese food in Canada. This cooking style was invented by early Cantonese immigrants who adapted traditional Chinese recipes to Western tastes and the available ingredients, and developed in a similar process to American Chinese cuisine.

Ibrahim "Obby" Khan is a Canadian politician, entrepreneur and former professional Canadian football centre who played for nine seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Ottawa Renegades, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and Calgary Stampeders.

Postmedia Network Canada Corp. is a foreign-owned Canadian-based media conglomerate consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in English-language newspaper publishing, news gathering and Internet operations. It is best known for being the owner of the National Post and the Financial Post. The company is headquartered at Postmedia Place on Bloor Street in Toronto.

<i>StarMetro</i> (newspaper) Defunct chain of Canadian free daily newspapers

StarMetro was a chain of Canadian free daily newspapers published in Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Toronto, and Vancouver. The chain was a joint venture between the Canadian publishing conglomerate Torstar and Swedish global media company Metro International. The chain was originally branded as Metro prior to rebranding on April 10, 2018. StarMetro was not affiliated with the French-language Métro newspaper published by TC Transcontinental in Montreal.

Safeway is a Canadian supermarket chain that operates 135 full-service locations, mostly in the country's Western provinces. It was established in 1929 as a subsidiary of the American Safeway chain before being sold in 2013 to Sobeys, a division of the conglomerate Empire Company and Canada's second-largest supermarket chain. Though independent from the American company, it continues to use the Safeway name and logo as of May 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 Raymond, Ted (25 Jan 2023). "Tucker's Marketplace reopening Wednesday in ByWard Market". CTV News Ottawa. Ottawa ON. Retrieved 25 Jan 2023.
  2. ↑ "Now Open: Experience Mother Tucker's Salad Bar". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton AB. 16 February 1976. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  3. ↑ "Mother Tucker's Food Experience (ad)" (Newspapers.com). Edmonton Journal. Edmonton AB. 17 January 1976. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  4. 1 2 Turnbull, Robert (13 May 1978). "It's a good-eating city". The Globe and Mail. Toronto ON. p. 44.
  5. ↑ Goldstein, Paul (17 December 1984). "Roadhouses trade on luck o' the Irish". The Globe and Mail. Toronto ON. p. B1.
  6. ↑ Weiss, Gary (4 December 1976). "Winnipeg's fine old office buildings take on new life" (Newspapers.com). National Post. Toronto ON. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  7. ↑ "Mother Tucker's Food Experience" (Newspapers.com). The Calgary Herald. Calgary AB. 29 September 1976. p. 50. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  8. ↑ Hopkins, John (8 January 1977). "John Hopkins" (Newspapers.com). Calgary Herald. Calgary AB. p. 59. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  9. ↑ "From law to restaurants" (Newspapers.com). The Leader-Post. Regina SK. The Canadian Press. 29 March 1977. p. 25. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  10. 1 2 Mother Tucker's Food Experience, Inc. (8 August 1980). "Director — Real Estate Financing and Development (ad)". The Globe and Mail. Toronto ON. p. B12.
  11. ↑ Sinclair Jr., Gordon (27 February 2014). "The king of food". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg MB. Retrieved 26 June 2020. And with his other corporate pillar, Mother Tucker's Food Experience, he would expand across Canada and the United States.
  12. ↑ Mother Tucker's Food Experience, Inc. (24 April 1981). "Vice President — Marketing (ad)". The Globe and Mail. Toronto ON. p. B12.
  13. ↑ "After 15 years of corporate success, Mother Tucker's is read to cut you in (ad)". The Globe and Mail. Toronto ON. 5 December 1989. p. B21.
  14. ↑ "Paid copies of magazines read more". The Globe and Mail. Toronto ON. 29 August 1984. p. B5.
  15. ↑ "Light bites". The Hamilton Spectator. Hamilton ON. 16 April 1994. p. 18.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Tucker's Marketplace new concept in the Market" (Newspapers.com). The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa ON. 9 May 1996. p. 8.
  17. ↑ Scullion, Erin (11 September 1996). "New concepts: There's always something new and different to tantalize you in the Byward Market" (Newspapers.com). The Ottawa Citizen (Byward Market/Marchė By 5th Annual United Way Harvest Festival advertising segment). Ottawa ON. p. 5. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  18. ↑ "TUCKER'S MARKETPLACE RESTAURANT & DESIGN — 1155917". Canadian Trademarks Database. Ottawa ON: Government of Canada. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  19. ↑ "Who's getting venture capital funds at first quarter 1996" (Newspapers.com). National Post. Toronto ON. 22 June 1996. p. 14. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  20. ↑ Pataki, Amy (9 May 2018). "Brothers know their steaks". Toronto Star. Toronto ON. p. E6.
  21. ↑ "TUCKER'S MARKETPLACE RESTAURANT & DESIGN — 1155917". Canadian Trademarks Database. Ottawa ON: Government of Canada. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  22. ↑ Laucius, Joanne (12 June 2020). "Tucker's Marketplace won't reopen until COVID-19 eases, says restaurant chain". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa ON: Postmedia. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  23. ↑ "Tucker's". Tucker's Marketplace. 2020. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020.
  24. ↑ Letter of June 25,2020
  25. ↑ Carlberg, Amy (25 June 2020). "Popular buffet restaurant is shutting down all locations in Canada". blogTO. Toronto ON. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  26. ↑ Pringle, Josh (25 June 2020). "Tucker's Marketplace closing ByWard Market location". CTV Ottawa. Ottawa ON. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  27. ↑ Pringle, Josh (11 June 2020). "Popular ByWard Market pub closing after 18 years". CTV News Ottawa. Ottawa ON. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  28. ↑ Dubé, Dani-Elle (11 June 2020). "'It's tragic — it's really tough:' Councillor Fleury plans to help ByWard Market businesses post COVID-19". Ottawa Matters. Ottawa ON. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  29. ↑ Jhalli, Anil (24 Jan 2023). "Tucker's Marketplace re-opening". CityNews Ottawa. Ottawa ON. Retrieved 25 Jan 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.