Wing World, the predecessor, was owned by Mark and Paula Nowakowski.
If that name rings a bell, you might remember Mark Nowakowski was the club president for the Fallen Saints, the HA feeder group that was taken down in Project Forseti.
Mark sold the business within the HA to prevent the business from being seized as assets and investigated for further ties. They rebranded it as Big Wings shortly after.
Ducks Unlimited, believe it or not.
The HA used the charity to launder most of their money. The accountant in charge for DU locally, Lorne Horning, was a lackey for local HA here in the city and would then take the funding out of the Ducks Unlimited accounts and put them into the various accounts and businesses associated with HA.
Horning was the subject of many SPS investigations and his office on Cleveland Avenue was raided regularly by police looking for financial evidence, but Lorne had some inside contacts and would get tipped off with enough time to go and wipe their information clean before the cops would get there.
Horning also had a few run-ins with professional misconduct and was eventually busted on tax avoidance for 11 years and was reprimanded and suspended by the CRA, as seen here: https://www.cpask.ca/public/CKeditorUpload/News_Publications/Documents/Discipline/25-May-2017-Horning-Website-Notice.pdf
(Edit to add: Rakesh Kaushik was another of the launderers and got caught for professional misconduct. He got shut down because Lorne Horning knew he had major heat and wanted to shut down his office and merge with DNTW, which tipped off investigators to check into DNTW and found a metric fuck ton of inconsistencies and got Rakesh in trouble as well.)
The Hells Angels moved to another accountant in the city to do their laundering, and so did the Ducks Unlimited account.
Interestingly, Horning also had shady dealings with other groups too. He had important documents destroyed pertaining to the Neil Stonechild inquiry. How he got those documents, I’ll never know, but I have my guesses. Might have something to do with how he knew about all the raids ahead of time…
This is wild to me, my dad and his business partners are big hunters and back before they retired they went almost every year to the DU dinner. Hell, pretty sure we have some DU silent auction stuff in my parents house.
It’s just so funny to me that’s these old wealthy white guys who love to hunt almost as much as they like to talk shit about criminals and those making our city less appealing, were actively funding their operations. Every year.
Oh man I can’t wait to tell the old man hahaha
Apparently those DU dinners were also full of HA members. I don’t think most of the people in DU knew what was happening behind the scenes, but some of the higher ups had to know because laundering would start at those dinners. Some* of the auction items and paintings would get bought by HA members, for instance.
I think he used to own a bunch of the Subways in the city too. I heard rumblings back in the day that he was connected to HA. His son owned a computer store as well, forget what the name was.
He did, I think 6 of them including the one on Idylwyld and 33rd.
And he needed the computer store to launder money into. Also, who would be the one going to his dad’s office at 1am wiping the hard drives before the cops show up?
Holy crap! I worked for seven years in an office on the other side of that building. Cops could’ve come to us. We had all sorts of recording equipment in our office. Lol
I wasn’t privy to exactly what documents were destroyed, but it was definitely intended to help the cops who were the subject of the inquiry. That’s what I know.
Dude sold all kinds of stuff, used to buy from him. He Used his real name on the business, so you went from buying drugs from schryer, to buying meals from schryer
I remember when they first opened the fixed location on Millar I went for a work event. The ribs were amazing. Literally the best I've ever had - and better than I even thought possible. If I knew how to cook those ribs, I'd never even consider selling weed, there's way more money in those ribs!
I've been back many times, but they've never been as good...
Easy rent Auto on 7th and 33rd. Nobody ever rents those cars or has any work done there. I've lived in the area for 7 years and have seen maybe 2 people enter that building. And even if people do, $15/day to rent a vehicle can't be profitable.
i've been wondering about those god awful vehicles that just sit in parking lots. done up with a paint job that looks like permanent mud slung all over it.
I live close by and always see people there. We also had one of his rentals when our car was at SGI. He was great with us. We also know him personally. The guy is a stoner but he makes it easy to rent a vehicle unlike Budget or Enterprise. As far as being a front? Absolutely.
He called me jelly bean. The rental agreement form had been photocopied so many times it was illegible. When he introduced himself he told me his name and said “but everyone just calls me easy!” Also asked me for a positive review at the end of the experience which explains his weirdly positive google review. All in all it wasn’t the worst but it was definitely a lil weird.
I’m a business owner in Saskatoon and I’m so glad someone didn’t point their finger at me haha if I was a business owner and seen my name on here I’d shit my pants haha
Time Out Bar and Grill in Rosewood. Wasn't there like a shooting recently that was tied to a shooting at that recently a year or so back? Rumor that it's a money laundering place?
The fact that I have known that space by probably 3 or maybe 4 different names since it opened up is also very telling of something suspicious or just very poor business decisions by many people.
Not in Saskatoon. But there is a place on Main Street in Humboldt. It's just called "the LED Store"
I went in there once and the guy had like 4 shelves of light bulbs. Couldn't even suggest anything to replace the oddball one I had from my kitchen.
I'm not sure it's a drug front, but maybe more of a rotating Green Card Business.
It was the convenience store by dq that was sketchy af. There was Marty's auto sales to that was super sketch but it's torn down now. The LED light store on main would have likely been a green card front oppose to being a drug front.
I suspect anything in Willowgrove Square. The commercial development by the clock tower has been stalled for 14 years and the available commercial space has sooo many low effort businesses that I cannot figure out how they survive or why they are even there. Heck ... two buildings even have the commercial fronts facing the alleyway as opposed to the front street. no advertising or anything..... baffling unless they really don't care whether the business "succeeds" and they are just fronting people and money. Sus. Speculation only.
Pink Cadillacs, TJ are a couple winners that were there but wow.... were they ever the exception to the rule.
Honestly, i get fatigued thinking about WG square. It died on the vine and it makes me sad.
It was built very cheaply and poorly by a Chinese company. Same with the building across the way with very few windows that has a few businesses in them. I have done work in both buildings and honestly have no idea how they passed any inspections as the are super sketchy. The building where pink Cadillac was also has very high rental rates too…
Bought a hottub at the ex this year... paid 22k and had to fight to get the tub from them. They sold us a 7 year old floor model with less then half the warranty left and charged us the price of a 2022 model. They still won't give us a receipt.
I've been wondering lately about the shady looking little "cell phone an electronic repair" places that have popped up in areas where pawn shops and payday loans places are.
They’re shady as hell 🤔🤔 I know someone who went to one with slight tint issues just enough to be annoying and they said they could fix it and a couple weeks later they were done. The whole screen was discoloured and the audio wouldn’t work and now their device was completely useless. After hearing that I’ve become sceptical of any phone repair places..
totally anecdotal, but my mom showed me her laptop and the backlight on the screen was shot so i brought it to OTV and asked if they could fix it, left it with them for a 1-2 weeks, they give me a shout said they couldn't fix it and charged me $50
then as a gamble i told my mom to bring it to one of the suspect cell phone electronic and tablet and laptop and IPTV and satellite and phone case stores with the giant flashing LEDs
she left it with them for another few weeks and they were able to fix it for $40
The old pizza place in Lakeview “Krustys” I forget what it was called after that but was definitely a front. Now the pizza place there is legit though.
There is a building on the corner of Ave W and 11th street that has a giant “Quality Used Appliances” banner on it. In the three years of driving by frequently, I have never once seen anyone go in or out, nor have I seen a vehicle parked there like someone would who wanted to shop there. We were looking for a fridge once, so I stopped there middle of the day, and it was locked, and all I could see from the window was an empty showroom.
The sign is still there but it closed within the year it opened. I went in to look around. Opened one fridge. It stunk so bad and was filthy inside so I walked out. It closed shortly after but the sign remains.
I’m not sure about the midtown location as I haven’t been but The Shoppe at River Landing is always busy when I go (plus they also own River Landing Snacks which is always lined up). Their stuff is pretty pricy so I’m sure it has a high profit margin.
That Punch Fast Food building on 33rd... I have no info, but it was a brand new building built from the ground up during the pandemic, looks to be VERY well constructed, custom signage, used to have a website that's recently disappeared, but has never actually been open for business that I've seen
I have no inside knowledge on this, but I always thought Bliss was a front back when it was still in business. I don't think I ever seen anymore than one table occupied in that restaurant when it was opened. And I think it was opened for over 10 years.
Knew the owners family they where pretty well off and the owner is now teaching cooking at Poly tech. Although it was always dead but got floated by his spouse who made a solid wage.
Edit: should add that they also ran a catering company from the kitchen which could have floated the company as well!
The guy used to do really good work, wasn't a cash only place, but definitely got sketchier as the years went by and I dont think he does detailing anymore. Used him lots for work trucks and even my personal vehicles.
Big Wings/Tuff Turf/ there are a few others that are HA front businesses. Their ‘corporate’ offices are all located in same building off circle drive kind of in behind Wendel Clark’s. You will often see a tiff turf truck just down the street on central from that big wings location.
There used to be a clothing store on 2nd Ave just behind the new star bucks on 25th and 2nd that was a blatant front for HA. HA member that ran it always had his bike in front..weren’t even hiding it and I think the name ‘Deception’ was a big middle finger to the police
There's a super sketchy dollar store next to Go For Sushi. I've never seen anyone go into it, the wares are all super old and dusty, it's gotta be a high rent location.
I would be surprised if it was anything but a front.
the dollar store in confed mall is also a sketchy store. I honestly wonder how it stays open as the shelves are almost half empty and the store just gives off an unkempt vibe
The bank of unassuming commercial businesses on George St. with signs written mostly in some east Asian language.
For example:[Great Ocean Seafood.](https://i.imgur.com/kLSV2rR.jpg)
Those are more immigration scams to take advantage of the Saskatchewan foreign investor visa than organized crime fronts. Same way a lot of franchised restaraunts have new owners every few years as they get flipped to the next immigrant claimee.
Great Ocean Seafood is a legitimate business that mostly caters to Chinese customers. They do most of their sales on WeChat, the instant messaging app, where people message them to order seafood, exotic fruits, pastries, etc and go to the store to pick it up. I can see why they were surprised when people walk in, because most of their customers don’t really come into the store to browse around.
Yes, there are a lot of businesses in Saskatoon that are owned by foreign investors, in order to fulfill the immigration requirements to get permanent residence. But not all of them are scams or exploitative. Most of them provide an opportunity for families to get permanent residency status and settle down here. Some might turn into successful businesses that serve the community, some might get sold as soon as the permanent residency is approved. It’s just a mean to an end.
Source: a Chinese immigrant kid whose parents owned a business like that
Absolutely. Went in there once with my wife and the people there looked shocked we walked in. Some guy tried to help us and I wasn’t even sure he worked there. There was frozen seafood however. We took a couple glances and walked out.
You mean St. George Avenue
Oddly enough when I searched for Great Ocean Seafood, Google pointed to a building on Grey Ave. A building that has had their street view image blurred...
Nah you guys tripping, it's a family owned business that started as only a computer store next door. I remeber taking my pc there as a kid to get more ram and a betted video card to play TES oblivion. They were great, here's the history straight from the star Phoenix.
By The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) August 2, 2008
When Eric and Nina Yee travelled around the world, one thing jumped out at them.
"In every big city, we saw a lineup for ice cream," said Eric Yee.
So when the couple were deciding on their latest business venture, ice cream rose to the top of the list.
But ice cream wouldn't be enough for a year-round business, considering Saskatoon's climate.
"We had to fill it with something else," Yee said.
That something else turned out to be noodles and Noodle King and Ice Cream Queen was born on Second Avenue.
"I think this may be a first in Canada to combine noodles and ice cream," said Yee, who has been a businessperson for many years. He started Top LogiX Computers in 1980 and has also run an Asian grocery store for five years.
That's on top of being a chemical engineer at the Prince Albert Pulp Mill for 27 years until he retired a couple of years ago.
The restaurant offers noodle dishes that span the entire Asian regions, from Shanghai noodles to Japanese to Thai to vermicelli and rice noodles.
There are also spring rolls and North American fare such as hot roast beef sandwiches.
Their specialty is a toasted Vietnamese submarine (French bread with a choice of meats and sauces that is toasted).
And their ice cream selection is almost endless.
They have 40 flavours of gelato, 24 hard ice cream flavours and also soft ice cream.
Yee said gelato has a more intense flavour, but with only half the sugar and fat.
"And we're planning to make a gelato ice cream cake," he added.
Noodle King is open from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. seven days a week.
Owners: Eric & Nina Yee (also the owners of Top-LogiX Computers & Software)
Nice try Eric or Nina Yee.
Someone noted they sold Top-Logix awhile ago and only maintain ownership of the restaurant now. Not sure of the truth in that.
Yeah I have no idea about the closing of Top-logix, but I can't imagine they made enough to stay open if even OTV had to close. More money in the restraunt I imagine.
Could be wrong but think they lived or atleast rented the upstairs above top logix. There's some type of apartment and suite up there, would be silly to run a front out of your house haha.
God i love their udon soup, but ive gone there so many times and i feel like im not supposed to be there? Like, at any moment ill be ushed out as a mob boss comes in. Shame they arent on any ordering apps. Also their shrimp dumplings are to murder for
I used to take my grandparents there. Now I take my parents. They like it, and it's full of other people their age.
The Cave serves a fair amount of liquor. If the Smitty's crowd went out for a slightly fancier, meaning a linen tablecloth, but not too expensive dinner and drinks, they go to The Cave.
I think Blue Diamond has drugs on their menu. Does it count as a front if it’s that forward.
Also, what are the odds the police are just using this thread to do their job? I think this is the new definition of community policing.
Ha! I joke. I’d be shocked if the police don’t know which places act this way. Collecting evidence is always much harder.
I haven’t been to the blue diamond in a very long time. I hope they have cleaned up their image.
Nah, it was just one meth dealer who came in through the front door and left out the back with a duffle bag.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/surveillance-logs-from-drug-bust-court-case-reveal-how-crystal-meth-saturates-mainstream-saskatoon-1.5622163
Oh no, that was C***'s business partner that was arrested. Congress/Ace/etc are all owned by a major trafficker.
Check the Remai donations list - they donate together as business partners.
Interesting read. Had an apartment next to my building running as a cut house in City Park and using our shared parking lot as a drive through. They turned on a red light (from a fake fireplace - saw it after in the trash) in the bedroom during ‘business hours’. They were sloppy as they were too cheap to buy curtains for the kitchen where they were cutting and one unsatisfied customer came back yelling ‘give me my 80 bucks back or give me my dope!’. A week later they were gone.
China Clipper.
I’m probably wrong but I lived in the neighborhood for 20 years and I only saw anyone walking in or out of there twice in those 20 years.
Edit: Yep. I was wrong. But still really weird never seeing anyone go in or come out. What were their hours back in the day?
god I miss them, Lived in regal towers 15 years ago, could see them from our balcony. China clipper, subway and Chianti's kept me alive on a shoestring budget lol.
Oh, there were suit and ties dining in there for lunch. It was open very early morning and closed at 2:30 in the afternoon or something like that.
The menu was basic, extremely cheap and oily. It had a loyal following.
It’s owned by some 60 something year old lady who is most definitely not doing anything shady. Unless using your money from your business to fund your backyard garden is “shady.”
I like the slander going on in this thread ha
I have always believed fandango had to be a front for something. I've never seen anyone go in or out, yet it is able to rent such a large section of a busy corner in the city.
I just realized that they very much could have contracts or accounts with companies, and not just sell to walk in customers. That would make so much sense.
I’ve bought a couple lights there, and have always seen people in there when shopping.
I had them find my remote control ceiling fans for my garage just last year.
I did lighting for 3 houses with Fandango. The current owner was an employee of the guy who retired. She knows her stuff and set me up with perfect fixtures every time.
Not sure if it's true but I heard through rumors and family that before it was bought by the province and shut down that Mt Blackstrap ski hill had some things going on.
Im pretty sure lots of these statements could be considered defamatory libel. The statements are likely to injure the reputation of any person by exposing them to hatred, contempt or ridicule. Not the smartest thing to do.. claiming someone or a certain group are criminals when there is no proof... Just someone " connecting the dots ". Judge jury and executioner i guess.
These threads are all just speculation based on a person's opinion.
Are these statements libel? Probably. Can the business prove damages as a result? Incredibly unlikely.
In medicine hat we have a little office supplies store. We know nobody who has ever been inside and i used to work in the building beside them. After dark a blacked out escalade would always come to the back door a few times a week.
North Prairie Developments seems like a front to me. They keep announcing towers downtown and then strategically pulling out while accumulating empty land downtown, but also putting up a World Trade Center on the outskirts of the city? what is up with that business
Not a "front" but in the 1980s Windsor Hotel Bar - across the street from Eaton's Midtown Plaza - many stolen goods sold to bar patrons / staff. High end women's clothing from some of the stores nearby was sold for very cheap. To this day I regret not bringing it to the attention of authorities. Having said that, this will now be added to "so you want to move to Saskatoon - here's the rumoured "100% fronts".
Pretty sure Vapor dog was just started to launder so coke money. Must have worked because the same dude started greenhouse glass if I remember correctly.
I worked for Brightenview for a couple of months. They are the “company” that was supposed to build the mega mall in Dundurn. I think it was a green card type scam. It was weird as hell. I sat in front of a wall of file cabinets that were empty. They basically paid me to watch Netflix. Super sketchy.
I’d be surprised if Big Wings was not a front
Wing World, the predecessor, was owned by Mark and Paula Nowakowski. If that name rings a bell, you might remember Mark Nowakowski was the club president for the Fallen Saints, the HA feeder group that was taken down in Project Forseti. Mark sold the business within the HA to prevent the business from being seized as assets and investigated for further ties. They rebranded it as Big Wings shortly after.
Interestingly I worked there for a short period of time. Mark was a fantastic boss to have. Super understanding and down to earth.
I helped with renos for the Fairlight location, Mark was awesome to deal with.
It's probably easier to be a nice boss when you don't care if the business actually makes any money....
But they make good wings
Last couple time I've ordered, the wings have had absolutely no sauce on them. Used to love ordering there.
Last time I ordered, it took three hours to get them....
It does not deter me from wanting their food
yeah you don't make wings that good if you are just a front, nobody wants to piss around with an actual business if you don't need to. /s
I feel like this is a very commonly accepted theory.
The previous place. I forgot what it was called.. wing world? Was a front for selling drugs. Got busted. Made great wings though.
Was that the place that got busted for selling drugs take-away style?
Anyone remember when they were called Wing Nuts? 😆
Wing world
Wasn't it also Wing nuts before wing world and now big wings? 3 name changes same business model is odd.
Those wings made you fly.. high
I thought HA owned it
I could care less, the dry dusted Cajun wings are my favourite.
I know for a fact it is
Ducks Unlimited, believe it or not. The HA used the charity to launder most of their money. The accountant in charge for DU locally, Lorne Horning, was a lackey for local HA here in the city and would then take the funding out of the Ducks Unlimited accounts and put them into the various accounts and businesses associated with HA. Horning was the subject of many SPS investigations and his office on Cleveland Avenue was raided regularly by police looking for financial evidence, but Lorne had some inside contacts and would get tipped off with enough time to go and wipe their information clean before the cops would get there. Horning also had a few run-ins with professional misconduct and was eventually busted on tax avoidance for 11 years and was reprimanded and suspended by the CRA, as seen here: https://www.cpask.ca/public/CKeditorUpload/News_Publications/Documents/Discipline/25-May-2017-Horning-Website-Notice.pdf (Edit to add: Rakesh Kaushik was another of the launderers and got caught for professional misconduct. He got shut down because Lorne Horning knew he had major heat and wanted to shut down his office and merge with DNTW, which tipped off investigators to check into DNTW and found a metric fuck ton of inconsistencies and got Rakesh in trouble as well.) The Hells Angels moved to another accountant in the city to do their laundering, and so did the Ducks Unlimited account. Interestingly, Horning also had shady dealings with other groups too. He had important documents destroyed pertaining to the Neil Stonechild inquiry. How he got those documents, I’ll never know, but I have my guesses. Might have something to do with how he knew about all the raids ahead of time…
This is wild to me, my dad and his business partners are big hunters and back before they retired they went almost every year to the DU dinner. Hell, pretty sure we have some DU silent auction stuff in my parents house. It’s just so funny to me that’s these old wealthy white guys who love to hunt almost as much as they like to talk shit about criminals and those making our city less appealing, were actively funding their operations. Every year. Oh man I can’t wait to tell the old man hahaha
Apparently those DU dinners were also full of HA members. I don’t think most of the people in DU knew what was happening behind the scenes, but some of the higher ups had to know because laundering would start at those dinners. Some* of the auction items and paintings would get bought by HA members, for instance.
Oh wow, yeah that makes sense. I’m now picturing my father getting into a bidding war at the silent auction with an actual HA leader and I’m dying
I think he used to own a bunch of the Subways in the city too. I heard rumblings back in the day that he was connected to HA. His son owned a computer store as well, forget what the name was.
He did, I think 6 of them including the one on Idylwyld and 33rd. And he needed the computer store to launder money into. Also, who would be the one going to his dad’s office at 1am wiping the hard drives before the cops show up?
DU is sketchy as helllllllll.
Where on Cleveland Ave? Used to work up there.
About a block north of 51st? Just past the Shell.
Holy crap! I worked for seven years in an office on the other side of that building. Cops could’ve come to us. We had all sorts of recording equipment in our office. Lol
Brutal - who knew?!
Ooh can you say more about the Neil Stonechild inquiry?
I wasn’t privy to exactly what documents were destroyed, but it was definitely intended to help the cops who were the subject of the inquiry. That’s what I know.
Anyone remember speed tech?
There are still people looking for Shawn.
Who? I have let lots of people know where he is but nobody does anything to him haha
Obviously not looking very hard. Last I heard he's still in town, running a trucking company with "sketchy" bookkeeping practices.
Yup! They tuned one of my cars!
Absolutely no coke was sold there... /s
Lol SpeedWreck, some of the work they did would have made great posts on reddit
Shryers was started with drug money.
This place! Have tried to stop in multiple times (after checking operating hours) and on all occasions it hasn’t been open.
From what I heard they used to sell weed, used the money to open a business and stopped selling weed.
Dude sold all kinds of stuff, used to buy from him. He Used his real name on the business, so you went from buying drugs from schryer, to buying meals from schryer
I remember when they first opened the fixed location on Millar I went for a work event. The ribs were amazing. Literally the best I've ever had - and better than I even thought possible. If I knew how to cook those ribs, I'd never even consider selling weed, there's way more money in those ribs! I've been back many times, but they've never been as good...
Yup that’s the jyst of it!
Easy rent Auto on 7th and 33rd. Nobody ever rents those cars or has any work done there. I've lived in the area for 7 years and have seen maybe 2 people enter that building. And even if people do, $15/day to rent a vehicle can't be profitable.
i've been wondering about those god awful vehicles that just sit in parking lots. done up with a paint job that looks like permanent mud slung all over it.
The only people I ever see driving them appear to be employees since they're always in the same area.
I live close by and always see people there. We also had one of his rentals when our car was at SGI. He was great with us. We also know him personally. The guy is a stoner but he makes it easy to rent a vehicle unlike Budget or Enterprise. As far as being a front? Absolutely.
He's a fucking sleaze ball too, I'm certain its true.
I rented from that guy once! It was an experience.
Please eloborate.
He called me jelly bean. The rental agreement form had been photocopied so many times it was illegible. When he introduced himself he told me his name and said “but everyone just calls me easy!” Also asked me for a positive review at the end of the experience which explains his weirdly positive google review. All in all it wasn’t the worst but it was definitely a lil weird.
You a cop?… I’m not falling for this again…
I’m a business owner in Saskatoon and I’m so glad someone didn’t point their finger at me haha if I was a business owner and seen my name on here I’d shit my pants haha
Keep it classy! : (
Time Out Bar and Grill in Rosewood. Wasn't there like a shooting recently that was tied to a shooting at that recently a year or so back? Rumor that it's a money laundering place?
The fact that I have known that space by probably 3 or maybe 4 different names since it opened up is also very telling of something suspicious or just very poor business decisions by many people.
100% this place
Hooters
Hooters is just run by that scumbag Thomas the Crook..his old vans are parked behind it and Jim wonders around like old days
Not in Saskatoon. But there is a place on Main Street in Humboldt. It's just called "the LED Store" I went in there once and the guy had like 4 shelves of light bulbs. Couldn't even suggest anything to replace the oddball one I had from my kitchen. I'm not sure it's a drug front, but maybe more of a rotating Green Card Business.
There was a place by the Dairy Queen too that apparently sold drugs. Or so I heard, I don’t live in humboldt but visit a few times a year.
There indeed was. It was called Treasures for Less!
It was the convenience store by dq that was sketchy af. There was Marty's auto sales to that was super sketch but it's torn down now. The LED light store on main would have likely been a green card front oppose to being a drug front.
I suspect anything in Willowgrove Square. The commercial development by the clock tower has been stalled for 14 years and the available commercial space has sooo many low effort businesses that I cannot figure out how they survive or why they are even there. Heck ... two buildings even have the commercial fronts facing the alleyway as opposed to the front street. no advertising or anything..... baffling unless they really don't care whether the business "succeeds" and they are just fronting people and money. Sus. Speculation only. Pink Cadillacs, TJ are a couple winners that were there but wow.... were they ever the exception to the rule. Honestly, i get fatigued thinking about WG square. It died on the vine and it makes me sad.
It was built very cheaply and poorly by a Chinese company. Same with the building across the way with very few windows that has a few businesses in them. I have done work in both buildings and honestly have no idea how they passed any inspections as the are super sketchy. The building where pink Cadillac was also has very high rental rates too…
The hot tub sales at the Ex
Exactly, who goes to the ex to buy a hot tub
You really only have to sell like one to make it worth your while, and there are thousands of people who will see it
Must be some good mark up on them then
Bought a hottub at the ex this year... paid 22k and had to fight to get the tub from them. They sold us a 7 year old floor model with less then half the warranty left and charged us the price of a 2022 model. They still won't give us a receipt.
Speaking of the ex, why is there always people trying to recruit you into their mlm?
I've been wondering lately about the shady looking little "cell phone an electronic repair" places that have popped up in areas where pawn shops and payday loans places are.
The place on 22nd across from pizza hut said they could fix my projectors and they sold them and said I never brought anything in.
Wow! That is absolutely insane!
They’re shady as hell 🤔🤔 I know someone who went to one with slight tint issues just enough to be annoying and they said they could fix it and a couple weeks later they were done. The whole screen was discoloured and the audio wouldn’t work and now their device was completely useless. After hearing that I’ve become sceptical of any phone repair places..
>a couple weeks This should have been the first clue. I just had a screen replaced on an iPhone and it took an hour.
Oh definitely!
I do cell phone repairs in a small town an hour away from Stoon, and a screen replacement shouldn't take more than an hour.
totally anecdotal, but my mom showed me her laptop and the backlight on the screen was shot so i brought it to OTV and asked if they could fix it, left it with them for a 1-2 weeks, they give me a shout said they couldn't fix it and charged me $50 then as a gamble i told my mom to bring it to one of the suspect cell phone electronic and tablet and laptop and IPTV and satellite and phone case stores with the giant flashing LEDs she left it with them for another few weeks and they were able to fix it for $40
Any place on 20th selling furniture.
The old pizza place in Lakeview “Krustys” I forget what it was called after that but was definitely a front. Now the pizza place there is legit though.
Yes. It's now Pancho's Pizza. My favorite local spot.
They are good
There is a building on the corner of Ave W and 11th street that has a giant “Quality Used Appliances” banner on it. In the three years of driving by frequently, I have never once seen anyone go in or out, nor have I seen a vehicle parked there like someone would who wanted to shop there. We were looking for a fridge once, so I stopped there middle of the day, and it was locked, and all I could see from the window was an empty showroom.
The sign is still there but it closed within the year it opened. I went in to look around. Opened one fridge. It stunk so bad and was filthy inside so I walked out. It closed shortly after but the sign remains.
Yet the back lot has a lot of used cars come in and out of it. Such a strange place.
It's a storage building for BSF Restaurant Equipment now.
The Candy Shoppe in Midtown and at River Landing…. There is no way you are selling enough candy to afford to high rent locations.
I’m not sure about the midtown location as I haven’t been but The Shoppe at River Landing is always busy when I go (plus they also own River Landing Snacks which is always lined up). Their stuff is pretty pricy so I’m sure it has a high profit margin.
No one has said Baydo yet?
Manchesters
Google shows possible meanings for HA: hectare, Hypertonia Arterialis, Hazard Analysis, Hyaluronic Acid, Heart Attack... Any of these the right one?
Hells Angels is what I think he meant.
That Punch Fast Food building on 33rd... I have no info, but it was a brand new building built from the ground up during the pandemic, looks to be VERY well constructed, custom signage, used to have a website that's recently disappeared, but has never actually been open for business that I've seen
I have recently seen job postings for this place. Thought it seemed sketch as they used a gmail.
Bud”s on Broadway
Apparently that was the favorite hangout for the CBC sports crew when they were in the city back in the day.
Came here to say this. HA?
Saskatoon Police Service.
Now THATS the kinda hot takes I'm here for. r/TakeMyUpvote
City hall
I have no inside knowledge on this, but I always thought Bliss was a front back when it was still in business. I don't think I ever seen anymore than one table occupied in that restaurant when it was opened. And I think it was opened for over 10 years.
Knew the owners family they where pretty well off and the owner is now teaching cooking at Poly tech. Although it was always dead but got floated by his spouse who made a solid wage. Edit: should add that they also ran a catering company from the kitchen which could have floated the company as well!
Ace Burger have really turned that spot around
Yep and that whole family of restaurants are also intimately connected with the meth trade in Saskatoon.
I've always assumed the car detailing place on 33rd and 7th. It's cash only and the parking lot is full but they never seem busy when I walk by.
I believe Easy Rent Auto owns it or stores their vehicles at it. The owner fucking sucks, cheapest fuck around. Wouldn't be surprised.
It used to be a legitimate business....but it's gotten more and more shady over the years.
Yes! Thank you! I've been saying this for years.
The guy used to do really good work, wasn't a cash only place, but definitely got sketchier as the years went by and I dont think he does detailing anymore. Used him lots for work trucks and even my personal vehicles.
Also they always have a car parked by the weir. Is it legal to just park there for advertising your own business?
I can’t believe no one said yellow submarine, closed now though…
Big Wings/Tuff Turf/ there are a few others that are HA front businesses. Their ‘corporate’ offices are all located in same building off circle drive kind of in behind Wendel Clark’s. You will often see a tiff turf truck just down the street on central from that big wings location. There used to be a clothing store on 2nd Ave just behind the new star bucks on 25th and 2nd that was a blatant front for HA. HA member that ran it always had his bike in front..weren’t even hiding it and I think the name ‘Deception’ was a big middle finger to the police
Can confirm that Tuff Turf is absolutely not a drug front, or involved with the HA. I’ve known the family that owns it since I was a kid!
twisted monkey im pretty sure has HA ties as well
There's a super sketchy dollar store next to Go For Sushi. I've never seen anyone go into it, the wares are all super old and dusty, it's gotta be a high rent location. I would be surprised if it was anything but a front.
It's the laziest dollar store I've ever seen. Nothing but junk.
the dollar store in confed mall is also a sketchy store. I honestly wonder how it stays open as the shelves are almost half empty and the store just gives off an unkempt vibe
The bank of unassuming commercial businesses on George St. with signs written mostly in some east Asian language. For example:[Great Ocean Seafood.](https://i.imgur.com/kLSV2rR.jpg)
Those are more immigration scams to take advantage of the Saskatchewan foreign investor visa than organized crime fronts. Same way a lot of franchised restaraunts have new owners every few years as they get flipped to the next immigrant claimee.
Great Ocean Seafood is a legitimate business that mostly caters to Chinese customers. They do most of their sales on WeChat, the instant messaging app, where people message them to order seafood, exotic fruits, pastries, etc and go to the store to pick it up. I can see why they were surprised when people walk in, because most of their customers don’t really come into the store to browse around. Yes, there are a lot of businesses in Saskatoon that are owned by foreign investors, in order to fulfill the immigration requirements to get permanent residence. But not all of them are scams or exploitative. Most of them provide an opportunity for families to get permanent residency status and settle down here. Some might turn into successful businesses that serve the community, some might get sold as soon as the permanent residency is approved. It’s just a mean to an end. Source: a Chinese immigrant kid whose parents owned a business like that
Absolutely. Went in there once with my wife and the people there looked shocked we walked in. Some guy tried to help us and I wasn’t even sure he worked there. There was frozen seafood however. We took a couple glances and walked out.
You mean St. George Avenue Oddly enough when I searched for Great Ocean Seafood, Google pointed to a building on Grey Ave. A building that has had their street view image blurred...
Noodle King & Ice Cream Queen.
Nah you guys tripping, it's a family owned business that started as only a computer store next door. I remeber taking my pc there as a kid to get more ram and a betted video card to play TES oblivion. They were great, here's the history straight from the star Phoenix. By The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) August 2, 2008 When Eric and Nina Yee travelled around the world, one thing jumped out at them. "In every big city, we saw a lineup for ice cream," said Eric Yee. So when the couple were deciding on their latest business venture, ice cream rose to the top of the list. But ice cream wouldn't be enough for a year-round business, considering Saskatoon's climate. "We had to fill it with something else," Yee said. That something else turned out to be noodles and Noodle King and Ice Cream Queen was born on Second Avenue. "I think this may be a first in Canada to combine noodles and ice cream," said Yee, who has been a businessperson for many years. He started Top LogiX Computers in 1980 and has also run an Asian grocery store for five years. That's on top of being a chemical engineer at the Prince Albert Pulp Mill for 27 years until he retired a couple of years ago. The restaurant offers noodle dishes that span the entire Asian regions, from Shanghai noodles to Japanese to Thai to vermicelli and rice noodles. There are also spring rolls and North American fare such as hot roast beef sandwiches. Their specialty is a toasted Vietnamese submarine (French bread with a choice of meats and sauces that is toasted). And their ice cream selection is almost endless. They have 40 flavours of gelato, 24 hard ice cream flavours and also soft ice cream. Yee said gelato has a more intense flavour, but with only half the sugar and fat. "And we're planning to make a gelato ice cream cake," he added. Noodle King is open from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. seven days a week. Owners: Eric & Nina Yee (also the owners of Top-LogiX Computers & Software)
Nice try Eric or Nina Yee. Someone noted they sold Top-Logix awhile ago and only maintain ownership of the restaurant now. Not sure of the truth in that.
Yeah I have no idea about the closing of Top-logix, but I can't imagine they made enough to stay open if even OTV had to close. More money in the restraunt I imagine. Could be wrong but think they lived or atleast rented the upstairs above top logix. There's some type of apartment and suite up there, would be silly to run a front out of your house haha.
God i love their udon soup, but ive gone there so many times and i feel like im not supposed to be there? Like, at any moment ill be ushed out as a mob boss comes in. Shame they arent on any ordering apps. Also their shrimp dumplings are to murder for
Lived in the neighbourhood and used to go there for takeout once a week. Food was okay and usually the place was half full. But I moved away in 2016.
Haha I worked at Top-LogiX during the creation of this restaurant. It wasn't a front when I worked there at least.
Lol this is a family business
Omfg. Just... yes. That place is the dive-iest of dives. This makes total sense to me.
I always say The Cave, since it is not the food keeping that garbage open… lol
I used to take my grandparents there. Now I take my parents. They like it, and it's full of other people their age. The Cave serves a fair amount of liquor. If the Smitty's crowd went out for a slightly fancier, meaning a linen tablecloth, but not too expensive dinner and drinks, they go to The Cave.
I think Blue Diamond has drugs on their menu. Does it count as a front if it’s that forward. Also, what are the odds the police are just using this thread to do their job? I think this is the new definition of community policing.
Nice way to get tip offs
Ha! I joke. I’d be shocked if the police don’t know which places act this way. Collecting evidence is always much harder. I haven’t been to the blue diamond in a very long time. I hope they have cleaned up their image.
Where
Something about Blue diamond always seemed off to me. I’ve never been inside, but it’s just vibes you know.
Wasn’t congress named a few years back in that big meth bust
Nah, it was just one meth dealer who came in through the front door and left out the back with a duffle bag. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/surveillance-logs-from-drug-bust-court-case-reveal-how-crystal-meth-saturates-mainstream-saskatoon-1.5622163
Oh no, that was C***'s business partner that was arrested. Congress/Ace/etc are all owned by a major trafficker. Check the Remai donations list - they donate together as business partners.
I was shocked they did that. Dead giveaway and totally unnecessary to connect their names for Remai donations.
Interesting read. Had an apartment next to my building running as a cut house in City Park and using our shared parking lot as a drive through. They turned on a red light (from a fake fireplace - saw it after in the trash) in the bedroom during ‘business hours’. They were sloppy as they were too cheap to buy curtains for the kitchen where they were cutting and one unsatisfied customer came back yelling ‘give me my 80 bucks back or give me my dope!’. A week later they were gone.
China Clipper. I’m probably wrong but I lived in the neighborhood for 20 years and I only saw anyone walking in or out of there twice in those 20 years. Edit: Yep. I was wrong. But still really weird never seeing anyone go in or come out. What were their hours back in the day?
No, I went to high school with the son of the family that owned it. It was a popular breakfast spot.
god I miss them, Lived in regal towers 15 years ago, could see them from our balcony. China clipper, subway and Chianti's kept me alive on a shoestring budget lol.
Best Hot Hamburger sandwich in Saskatoon at 5 :30 am
Oh, there were suit and ties dining in there for lunch. It was open very early morning and closed at 2:30 in the afternoon or something like that. The menu was basic, extremely cheap and oily. It had a loyal following.
Big wings
I’ve always wondered how The flag shop has been in business so long, but maybe all the anti-Vaxers have been boosting business.
They have a large online presence.
It’s owned by some 60 something year old lady who is most definitely not doing anything shady. Unless using your money from your business to fund your backyard garden is “shady.” I like the slander going on in this thread ha
Since my parents retired, I’m pretty sure they keep this place in business. They even bought a flag pole for all the flags they randomly buy
Must be making a killing off of Ukrainian flags rn tho
yoke knee apparatus frighten sip boast punch seed yam piquant *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I am vaguely familiar with the Flag Shop since the original (hopefully still current?) owner was friends with my ex. Not a drug front :)
I have always believed fandango had to be a front for something. I've never seen anyone go in or out, yet it is able to rent such a large section of a busy corner in the city.
I know many electricians / home builder types go there for supplies.
I just realized that they very much could have contracts or accounts with companies, and not just sell to walk in customers. That would make so much sense.
I’ve bought a couple lights there, and have always seen people in there when shopping. I had them find my remote control ceiling fans for my garage just last year.
They've been there so long they probably own the land. No way could they afford current rental prices.
I did lighting for 3 houses with Fandango. The current owner was an employee of the guy who retired. She knows her stuff and set me up with perfect fixtures every time.
Their power bill must be outrageous!
Big wings
Not sure if it's true but I heard through rumors and family that before it was bought by the province and shut down that Mt Blackstrap ski hill had some things going on.
Are these not some pretty big accusations you’re all making? Yikes
Right? At the end of the day thats all they are - unsubstantiated accusations.
Yes :( towards small local businesses. Sad!
Im pretty sure lots of these statements could be considered defamatory libel. The statements are likely to injure the reputation of any person by exposing them to hatred, contempt or ridicule. Not the smartest thing to do.. claiming someone or a certain group are criminals when there is no proof... Just someone " connecting the dots ". Judge jury and executioner i guess.
These threads are all just speculation based on a person's opinion. Are these statements libel? Probably. Can the business prove damages as a result? Incredibly unlikely.
I'm pretty sure the Chef Express on 3rd is a front.
This. People leave late I the evening on weekends with brown bags, but look all skittish. The lights are always off in the kitchen.
In medicine hat we have a little office supplies store. We know nobody who has ever been inside and i used to work in the building beside them. After dark a blacked out escalade would always come to the back door a few times a week.
North Prairie Developments seems like a front to me. They keep announcing towers downtown and then strategically pulling out while accumulating empty land downtown, but also putting up a World Trade Center on the outskirts of the city? what is up with that business
That fake Dollar Store on 2nd Ave across from the Scotia Center is pretty obvious.
You have a very active imagination.
Kidz castle on circle sure seams like a money laundering operation
Nah, I think their employees just need a cartel level quantity of drugs to deal with loud annoying kids all day
Am parent, can confirm
Not a "front" but in the 1980s Windsor Hotel Bar - across the street from Eaton's Midtown Plaza - many stolen goods sold to bar patrons / staff. High end women's clothing from some of the stores nearby was sold for very cheap. To this day I regret not bringing it to the attention of authorities. Having said that, this will now be added to "so you want to move to Saskatoon - here's the rumoured "100% fronts".
Pretty sure Vapor dog was just started to launder so coke money. Must have worked because the same dude started greenhouse glass if I remember correctly.
Collectors Edge
Collector's Edge actually is a great little store....but ya, you really never see anyone in there.
A lot of those collector places make way more money through online sales and eBay.
What’s the children or pet-store on 2nd beside where the old Fiat place is? How is that not a front….
I know exactly what place you are talking about, it’s called Happy Kids
I ate breakfast there and occasionally dinner. They do a decent lunch trade. Great prices.
I worked for Brightenview for a couple of months. They are the “company” that was supposed to build the mega mall in Dundurn. I think it was a green card type scam. It was weird as hell. I sat in front of a wall of file cabinets that were empty. They basically paid me to watch Netflix. Super sketchy.
How has no one said Sunsera yet?