One of Sackville’s longest serving watering holes, Ducky’s, has new owners. Sarah Poirier and Kate Cogswell took possession of the bar on February 1.
Poirier and Cogswell said they both discussed the idea of buying the bar with Darren Wheaton separately, but landed on becoming partners when they realized they shared the a vision for what the bar could be. “I think the biggest thing about Duckies is that it it needs to stay a community-centric space,” said Cogswell.
“Yes, it’s a student bar on Friday and Saturday, and the students are a big part of our community so they’re going to be a big part of our bar… but more importantly, we want to be accessible and important to the community as a whole,” she said.
The new owners want people to feel free to ask for a cup of tea, play a board game or simply sit and read a book. They also want to have more planned events like live music, open mic nights or comedians.
Poirier said another planned change is to have more non-alcoholic and low-alcohol drinks. “Because I have a lot of friends and I think Kate does too, who just are not drinkers,” said Poirier. “We really want to keep the vibe as is and just open it up.”
They both acknowledge the work of former owner Darren Wheaton. He took over Ducky’s after the death of his brother, Mike Wheaton in 2009. Until his death, Mike Wheaton was the owner of Ducky’s and George’s Roadhouse, both beloved watering holes in Sackville.
Both are long time residents of Sackville. Cogswell left her job as a banker to focus on her new venture. Poirier will split her time between her work as the seasonal farm coordinator at Open Sky Cooperative, and Ducky’s.
This isn’t Poirier’s first downtown business venture. She and her husband were previously partners in Fener’s Place, a Kurdish restaurant next door to Ducky’s. “That was purely for bank purposes,” she said. As newcomers to Canada, the family who opened the restaurant didn’t have any Canadian credit history.
Cogswell and Poirier both agree that other than a paint job, Ducky’s won’t change drastically anytime soon. According to Cogswell, “the only difference they might see is annoying owners asking lots of questions about what people want all the time, because we just want to make people happy.”
