By Eden Ramsay (@EdenRamsay)
Red River General Store, 5700 Henderson Highway (EDEN RAMSAY PHOTO)
Antiques, natural cleaning products, and tea accessories (EDEN RAMSAY PHOTO)
With the wide variety of its products falling under the category of homemade, natural, local, or vintage, Red River General Store is the answer to modern day wholesomeness.
The store is located 10 km north of the Perimeter Highway on the way to Lockport at 5700 Henderson Highway in Narol, Manitoba. It’s a short drive from the city and definitely worth the trip.
The outside of the store beckons outsiders into the charming log cabin heritage building. The welcoming, all-wooden interior of the store recalls a simpler time and is accented through by vintage antiques. The front end of the store contains primarily food products. The food you’ll find here are local products as well as natural and organic food items.
I was pleasantly surprised by the wall of glass jars filled with homemade teas in flavours that could rival David’s Tea. I was also impressed by the table of homemade, natural bath products the store owner makes herself. This includes soaps, lotion and bath salts. I loved the large mason jars with the tin cap that the larger portion of bath salts came packaged in. These products are available in a large selection of scents such as French rosemary & lemongrass and smell divine.
Tea collection and antique decor (EDEN RAMSAY PHOTO)
I left with lemon coconut and chocolate cashew flavoured bags of hippie cookies. According to the package these are slowly baked at very low temperatures to preserve the beneficial properties of the all-natural ingredients such as cashews, cocoa powder, lemon, and coconut. They were soft, with a texture like a brownie or a coconut ball and full of delicious flavour.
Red River General Store also offers products from local artisans and antiques, even old fashioned looking snowshoes for those snowy winter days. With the amount of lovely eclectic products available here, you are likely to find something intriguing.
As an added bonus, store offers classes for those looking to try their hand at doing-it-yourself. The next one is a soap making class to be held on February 2 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For $25 one can learn how to make their own homemade cold process soap and even take home their creation. Classes offered in the past include Strawberry Rhubarb Wine — Home Brew Class, Let’s Make Pumpkin Butter (and other great Pumpkin ideas!), and Relish! Relish! Relish!
I’m glad I discovered the store and will be back to try some of their homemade tea, bath products, and even learn how to be more hands-on myself with one of their classes. So if you decide to take a short break from the city, Red River General Store is open on weekends, Friday to Sunday at 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Let the atmosphere of the place take you back through time and see the lovely products they have to offer.
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Eden Ramsay is a Creative Communications student at Red River College. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) from the University of Manitoba and majored in graphic design. She loves culture, design in its many forms, and exploring the world around her.
