The Mighty Oak

For Ray Weind and Lauren Lowe, the transition from retirees to business owners happened literally overnight. “We were just driving by,” Ray recalls. “We saw the place, and saw the For Sale sign, so we went in, looked around, talked to the owner. The next day, our agent told us there was an offer on the place and if we wanted it we'd have to put a bid in right then. We had one day to make a decision on whether or not we wanted to change our lives.”

And since they took over in July of 2015, The Mighty Oak – a market and coffee shop that hearkens back to the lost days of neighbourhood Mom-and-Pop shops – has become an emerging community hub that combines artful decor with sumptuous coffee and delicious local goods.

“We'd always said: 'Wouldn't it be great if there was something the two of us could do together?'” Ray muses. “And this has ended up being perfect.”