Help Willie's Café Come Back to Life

I’m Ian Kennard, owner of Willie's Café in London, Ontario. For nearly 30 years, Willie's has been my life’s work—a place built on good food, community, and joy.

We’ve survived construction, parking chaos, and even eight long months of COVID closure. But the last four years have been the most challenging. Our block in Old East Village never bounced back. Safety concerns keep customers away, and our once-busy dining room now sits quiet.

I’m 64, but I’m not done. We’re moving to a beautiful, bright new home at 255 Queens (One London Place)—five times bigger, full of glass and light, right in the heart of downtown. This is our chance at bringing Willie's back to the lively, bustling café it was meant to be.

Here’s the truth: keeping Willie's alive through and after the pandemic has drained almost everything I have. We need help to pay down debt, renovate the new space, and keep our amazing 9-person team together.

You can make this happen:

• Donate to our GoFundMe—every dollar counts.

• Buy a gift certificate to use or give.

• Share our story with friends and online.

• Support our current location.

If Willie's has ever made you smile, filled your belly, or warmed your heart, please help us write the next chapter.

With gratitude and love,

Ian & the Willie's Team

If you would like the full story and more details on our campaign, please continue reading.

Location, Location, Location.

Hi, Ian Kennard, owner of Willie's Cafe in London, Ontario.

The history. I started my first job in the hospitality industry in Toronto when I was 15. By the time I graduated high school I knew one day I wanted to own my own restaurant. I went to Western for a business degree and spent 15 years working for others, learning the ropes and paying my dues. (7 years at the Poachers Arms and 8 years at the Horse and Hound). In 1996 my business partner Kent Van Dyk and I bought Willie's Cafe, est. 1983, on Wellington Street. We spent the next 8 years working together to build a very successful and unique neighbourhood Cafe. In 2004 it was time for Kent to move on to bigger and better things. The cafe continued successfully as we transitioned away from dinner service to focus on lunch service and corporate catering. In 2016, in a somewhat misguided attempt to retire I sold the building on Wellington Street, keeping the business and brand. That lasted 6 months when the restaurant bug became too much to ignore. We found a great location in the London Food Incubator and reopened in 2017 at 630 Dundas in OEV. At that time the neighbourhood was alive and buzzing with the energy of local businesses and restaurants. Many thanks to the trailblazing Root Cellar! The neighbourhood has always had its challenges, but we chose it because we wanted to help build community. I understood that pushing the problem further east was not a solution. We survived construction on Dundas and the municipal parking lots behind us. By January of 2020 we were hitting our stride, catering was strong, customers were rediscovering us and all that OEV had to offer. It was an exciting time.

The challenge. Then March 2020 arrived..... We closed for 8 months and as the world recovered and reopened post Covid we took the opportunity to move to a bigger brighter space at the front of 630 Dundas. We also took over the retail coffee business of Fire Roasted Coffee, it was a risky move. Unfortunately, the last four years have been the most challenging of the 30 years I have owned Willie's Cafe. The Old East Village, particularly our block on Dundas never fully recovered from Covid. The divides and social tragedies exposed during Covid seem to be hyper focused in our community and it is no longer the lively energetic place we moved into 8 years ago. It continues to decline and is no longer a destination that our customers are comfortable venturing to. As a result, our beautiful dining room now sits mostly empty. We are extremely grateful to our loyal customers and catering clients who continue to support us and the community. Sadly however, it is no longer a location where Willie's Cafe has a viable future.

The move. Several of my close friends asked why at age 64 was I going to move again, did I actually have another move in me? That caused me to pause and reflect. Yes, I have another move in me, but why? After the last 4 years Willie's Cafe and my staff would love the chance to flourish, to be busy and successful again, to see what we are truly capable of. I love coming to work every morning, I love the people and team we have built, I love the work we do. It brings me joy; it brings us joy. I believe that joy is reflected in the food and service we provide to our customers. If we can bring you, our customers, just a moment of joy during your day it is all worth it.

That is why we are taking on this next big challenge in the story that is Willie's Cafe.

After lengthy negotiations with Sifton Properties, we have secured a lease on our new location on the main floor of 255 Queens (at Wellington), also known as One London Place. We are very excited as the new space is 5 times larger than our current location, features 2 floors of glass windows, a mezzanine level with additional seating and is walking distance to most of the downtown commercial office buildings and Victoria Park. We expect to take possession in mid-October and reopen in early November.

The ask. According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business most small businesses in Canada never fully recovered from the pandemic and carry an average of $150,000 to $200,000 in debt. We could be the poster business for that unfortunate statistic. Why do we need your help? I never imagined I would find myself in this position. The last four years have been financially devastating. The truth is I have leveraged most of my life and savings to keep Willie's open. As challenging as it is, the truth is important. I have maxed out 2 lines of credit, several credit cards and fallen behind in monies owed to the CRA. The new location needs a significant investment in renovations to fulfill our vision for the next chapter in Willie's Cafe. Sifton is graciously contributing a significant portion of the costs. We are launching a GoFundMe campaign in conjunction with the announcement of our move. We are asking for your financial help and support to reach our fundraising goal of $150,000.

How will the money be used?

There are 3 main areas where the funds will be used.

1. Help repay Willie's Cafe CEBA loan, pay down lines of credit and credit card balances used to keep us open.

2. Help repay taxes owed to the Canada Revenue Agency. The CRA has been extremely supportive of our situation, working closely with us over the last couple of years to help keep us open.

3. Help fund construction, renovation and equipment costs needed to update the new location.

How can you help? There are several ways you can help.

Continue to support us at our current location as we get ready for the big move.

Spread the word about our move and this campaign to your friends and on social media.

Purchase gift certificates to use at our new location for friends, family, and charity.

Make a direct financial contribution to our GoFundMe campaign to help us reach our $150,000 fundraising goal and secure a future for Willie's Cafe.

Why is this important to Willie’s Café and the community? Despite all the recent challenges, Willie's continues to employ and support 9 staff and their families. We support many local vendors. We support the local community with food donations to My Sister's Place and gift certificate donations to local charities and fundraisers. Through staff hiring we support local Social Services like ATN and YOU. We continue to receive awards and recognition for our work. We have received ATN’s Angel Award twice. We were voted London’s Best Lunch Restaurant 2024 by London Inc Magazine. We believe this move will allow us to hire more staff, flourish, and continue making a bigger difference in both the local economy and community.

Thank you. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been doing this for 30 years. I am very grateful for the relationships and friendships I have built over the years with you, our customers, clients and vendors. Many of you for several generations. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Thank you for your support, we are extremely and forever grateful.

We look forward to the next exciting chapter of Willie's Cafe in our new location.

With gratitude,

Ian and team.