\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"JOHN](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4252775_web1_260526_Ronald_Moore_01.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS
\nRonald George Moore, 56, has been collecting Robin’s Donuts paraphernalia for 15 years. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d be telling the workers I was from Winnipeg and how excited I was to be there for Robin\u2019s anniversary. They were polite enough, but in their head I\u2019m sure a few of them were going, \u2018OK, buddy, let\u2019s take it down a notch.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The way Moore understands the story, Robin\u2019s co-founders Harvey Cardwell and George Spicer intended to dub their yet-to-open operation Superior Donuts for Lake Superior, the famous body of water bordering their hometown.<\/p>\n
One morning, as they were brainstorming at Cardwell\u2019s place, they spotted a robin foraging for worms in the backyard. Equating robins with daybreak, and daybreak with coffee, they immediately changed tack by naming their pending caf\u00e9 for the red-breasted bird, instead.<\/p>\n
(At one point Robin\u2019s, now owned by Chairman\u2019s Brand Corporation, had close to 250 outlets spread across the country, but that number is presently down to 160 or so.)<\/p>\n
Moore\u2019s personal association with Robin\u2019s began when he was a grade schooler. He grew up in Fort Richmond and every Sunday following church, his family would stop at a Robin\u2019s outlet on Pembina Highway, a few blocks from their house.<\/p>\n
Moore and his two younger sisters would split a box of Robin\u2019s eggs \u2014 Robin\u2019s take on Tim Hortons\u2019 Timbits \u2014 while their parents relaxed over coffee.<\/p>\n
Moore, a courier driver, remained a loyal customer into his adulthood.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Fifteen years ago, he purchased a Robin\u2019s travel mug that reminded him of the sort his father used to keep in a dash-mounted holder in his car.<\/p>\n One portable cup turned into two, two became four and before you could say \u201cdouble-double,\u201d he had filled an entire shelving unit with storebought cups and mugs bearing an image of the chain\u2019s cartoon-bird mascot.<\/p>\n Next, he began netting prizes associated with Robin\u2019s then-annual Sip to Win promotions, which rewarded customers with food and beverage packages, sure, but also crested blankets, T-shirts, socks\u2026 even miniature rolling pins.<\/p>\n He was surprised by the wide range of items available, but the turning point, collecting-wise, came when his fianc\u00e9e uncovered a functioning neon Robin\u2019s sign, which she had customized to reflect the name of his podcast, Manitoba Moneyshot, which highlights Winnipeg artists, musicians and community leaders, especially from his North Point Douglas neighbourhood.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter attaching it to the wall I was like, OK, let\u2019s see how much I can grow this hobby.\u201d<\/p>\n On a near-weekly basis, Moore searches the internet for what\u2019s newly available, via online markets or through the company itself.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Often, merchandise in one part of the country differs from that in another, so whenever he can, he enlists friends vacationing in, say, the Maritimes or southern Ontario to pick up this or that for him, while they\u2019re away.<\/p>\n Recently, for example, a buddy of his living in Vancouver let him know he had spotted a Robin\u2019s-branded coffee maker in a thrift store, and that he\u2019d gladly throw it in his suitcase the next time he visits Winnipeg.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m also not above looking in dumpsters behind a Robin\u2019s to see if they\u2019re throwing away advertising material.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m also not above looking in dumpsters behind a Robin\u2019s to see if they\u2019re throwing away advertising material for promotions that have ended,\u201d says Moore, who collected comic books as a kid and has always enjoyed what he calls the thrill of the hunt.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong \u2014 I\u2019m not jumping in \u2014 but if I can reach something from where I\u2019m standing on the sidewalk, I\u2019m fine taking it home, cleaning it up and finding a suitable place to display it.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s even informed store workers, many of whom he\u2019s gotten to know on a first-name basis, that if they have any old uniforms or caps they no longer require, he\u2019ll take those off their hands, too.<\/p>\n Further to that, Moore still has nightmares about the time an employee told him he was in her thoughts a few days earlier, when she noticed her manager tossing out a life-size Robin\u2019s mascot costume that had seen better days.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u201cI was like \u2018What? Why didn\u2019t you set it aside?\u2019 Seriously, I\u2019d rather not have known, I was so disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n While he is fond of everything he\u2019s amassed thus far \u2014 even nondescript paper napkins and takeout bags \u2014 there are a few oddball pieces he\u2019s particularly proud of.<\/p>\n Those include a Robin\u2019s liquor decanter, won by its previous owner at a golf tournament, and a set of bendable action figures that depict the Robin\u2019s character playing sports such as hockey and baseball.<\/p>\n He\u2019s also pleased to show off a faux stained-glass vinyl cut-out that once fit over a skylight window at a since-closed Robin\u2019s on St. Mary\u2019s Road, near Nelson McIntyre Collegiate.<\/p>\n The colourful specimen was a gift from a construction worker who, when that location was being gutted to pave the way for a new Starbucks, was invited to bring home anything that caught his eye.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd as much as I\u2019ve been tempted to, I\u2019ve never taken a single thing out of a Robin\u2019s without asking if it was OK,\u201d he stresses.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u201cI can\u2019t speak for people on eBay who are selling those orange food trays or soup bowls that they likely slipped into a backpack when nobody was looking, but everything I have is 100 per cent legit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs much as I\u2019ve been tempted to, I\u2019ve never taken a single thing out of a Robin\u2019s without asking if it was OK.\u201d<\/p>\n Million-dollar question: Wouldn\u2019t it be much easier to add to his stockpile if he simply dusted off his resum\u00e9 and dropped it off at one of the five Robin\u2019s locations in Winnipeg?<\/p>\n That might be worth considering when he retires from his current position, he says with a wink, adding he is also tossing around the idea of penning a definitive book on Robin\u2019s collectibles.<\/p>\n \u201cThe crazy thing was, the Robin\u2019s in Gimli changed hands two years ago. I absolutely love Gimli and had I known it was for sale, I definitely would have looked into it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tDish<\/p>\n Every Second Friday<\/p>\n The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney.<\/p>\n \t\t\tSign up for Dish<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t Back to his Thunder Bay trip; thanks to a former Robin\u2019s executive who willingly toured him and his fianc\u00e9e around \u2014 she\u2019s from Thunder Bay so he didn\u2019t have to twist her arm to accompany him, he chuckles \u2014 the father of two children from a previous relationship returned to Winnipeg with a slew of fresh treasures for his hoard.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had some mementoes he\u2019d hung onto through the years that he graciously turned over,\u201d says Moore, whose standard coffee order is one cream and half a sugar.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS
\nMoore’s personal association with Robin\u2019s began when he was a grade schooler.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS
\nMoore is particularly fond of a Robin\u2019s liquor decanter, won by its previous owner at a golf tournament.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS
\nMoore’s collection started with a travel coffee mug. <\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS
\nOn a near-weekly basis, Moore searches the internet for Robin’s Donuts merchandise.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n