‘Small details can have a big impact’

St. Vital

West End

As the third-year anniversary of the opening of his bakery passes, it’s clear Shhade Al Mansour has the right ingredients to continue to grow his business.

Marymar Bakery is located at 1172 Sanford St, which runs parallel to Empress Street, buffered by Sargent Avenue to the south and Wellington Avenue to the north. At present, it specializes in pita bread — in part, because Al Mansour wanted to create a quality product that reflects his Middle Eastern roots.

The bakery opened its doors in January 2023, but Al Mansour’s journey has been much longer, and at times, more traumatic. He arrived in Winnipeg in 2014 with his wife and their five children as refugees, via Lebanon, after fleeing their home in Homs, Syria, when the Islamic State caliphate swept the region. Their sixth child was born after they settled here.

In Syria, the St. Vital resident owned a restaurant and a coffee shop and, while those businesses differ from running a bakery, when Al Mansour was thinking about starting a business here, he looked at opportunities that might fit his general skill-set, learned more specialized skills and came to understand how to run a bakery.

“There are lots of small details, which impact the quality of the bread and the shelf-life of items,” said Al Mansour, who became a Canadian citizen in 2018. “Humidity and temperature can affect the quality, so there’s lots of attention to detail needed. It’s been a learning curve.”

Al Mansour has learned to deal with customers and suppliers on the job, as well as learning about all about his equipment and ovens.

“There are lots of standards, third-party inspections and city codes you have to follow,” he said, noting it took around 18 months, give or take, to get “CSA-approved” before opening the bakery.

He currently supplies several stores and restaurants with his pita bread — which comes in white or whole wheat varieties — and also has other customers.

“It’s (a) cold city in the winter, but the people are warm and friendly. They make it warmer, make it easier for me,” Al Mansour said.

In addition to the financial, cultural and language barriers, he said his family’s biggest challenge upon arriving in Winnipeg was having no connections.

“The Syrian community here was very small at first, but I met a few people at church who I befriended, and they helped make life easier for me,” he explained

“I found a safe place in Winnipeg … I came here and made my own path, and I needed a stable income for my family,” he added. “I’m hoping we add something to the community.”

Al Mansour said he’s a strong believer in working hard and serving as an example for his children. He also a big supporter of education and mentions he’s earned diplomas as a legal assistant and in business administration and marketing since arriving in Canada.

South St. Vital resident Dan Janssens, and his wife Lorraine Bedard-Janssens, have befriended Al Mansour and his family. Their church community — the Parish of St. Timothy — has worked with refugees for many years. They said he’s become a role model in helping subsequent new Canadians adapt to their new life.

“Shhade has helped other newcomers to settle here in St. Vital especially and to feel welcome,” Janssens said. “He is raising his six children to realize the importance of an education and to become responsible citizens. He has opened up a bakery because he saw a need to supply a ‘taste of home’ while realizing the opportunity that Canada has provided him. It’s his way of giving back, of contributing to our city and country.”

“He has taken advantage of the resources Canada has provided for him and his family to succeed in their new country and is very appreciative. He feels it’s very important to give back to the community that has taken him in,” he added.

Email shhade.almansour79@gmail.com for more information about the bakery.