Munn’s Bakery

Historical Name: Munn’s Bakery

Common Name: Munn’s Store/The Handy Store/Idgie’s Restaurant

Physical Address: 1999 Second Avenue

Dates of Construction: 1898

The Munn’s Bakery building was built in 1898 by Alexander Munn and family, who moved to Rossland from Prince Edward Island around 1898. Alex Munn opened a bakery in this spot in 1902. The bakery was situated on the corner of Washington Street and Second Avenue, beside the Western Hotel. He ran this building for around 22 years, before his death in 1920; the building was then owned by his son, Heath.

Multiple other businesses were run here throughout the 120 years since the building was built. Mrs. Bailey’s Confectionery operated in the space from 1922 to 1927. Ernest and Harry W. Lefevre ran Lefevre Grocery in the building in 1936-37. Elmer Thompson and Firmin J. Bousquet ran a corner store here together until 1958, when Bousquet left the business; Thompson continued to operate the building as sole owner into the 1970s. Rose Garbutt bought the building in 1999 and opened Idgie’s Restaurant, which operated until the mid-2020s.