Draft:Andy Winter

Andy (Andrew) Winter is a lover of words and music. He's been a successful entrepreneur and all the while, a poet and a songwriter.

The Early Years

Andy's parents and brother were survivors of the Holocaust. In 1946, Andy was the first Jewish boy born in Miskolc, Hungary after the war. Much of his family perished in Auschwitz including his grandmother Blanca (nee Deutsch) Munczner, who raised seven children on her own when Andy's grandfather, Philip, never returned from the World War 1. Andy says, "It's this heritage that made me sensitive to the world around me".

Andy's father Eugene (Jeno) was a labour camp survivor who escaped then joined up with the Jewish resistance. Along with the Russians, he helped liberate Hungary from Nazi occupation in 1945. In 1948, Eugene spoke up against the Russian occupation in Hungary, and when he was told he was about to be arrested, he fled overnight with his family by horse and buggy to Austria to seek asylum. In the same year, the family boarded a freight train to Italy then sailed to Haifa, Israel, as part of the Exodus.

In 1951, Andy and family came across the Atlantic on the Ocean Liner Volcania arriving in Halifax, Canada and processed at Pier 21. On Christmas Eve, the Winter family arrived by train in Toronto, Canada. Eugene found work at a paper mill and Maria, in a factory, sewing buttons. Not long after that, Eugene went to the Salvation Army warehouse on Richmond Street and bought an old "Honkytonk" piano. Andy's brother Gabe, who was 12 years older than Andy, was a musical prodigy. Gabe gave piano lessons to earn money. While Andy's parents wanted Gabe to teach Andy how to play piano, it didn't happen. But that didn't stop Andy from tinkering on the piano and making up his own songs. Andy's mother loved to sing songs and recite Hungarian poems, and his father loved to quote great Hungarian poets such as Petofi, Ady, and Joseph.

In grade three, Andy went to Alexander Muir Public School, named after the composer of 'The Maple Leaf Forever'. When attending his first music class, the kids sang "Getting to Know You" from the musical "The King and I". Andy was touched and overwhelmed thinking that they were singing to welcome him. He later realized this song was part of the curriculum.

That same year, Andy's English teacher, Mr. Rutherford, asked the class to compose a poem with the same structure as "Mary Had a Little Lamb". When the students recited their poems, Andy was the only one who got it right. Mr. Rutherford praised Andy and used the poem as the example for the rest of the class. From then on Andy started to write poems. Many teachers were supportive of his poetry and posted them in their classrooms and also used them on school tests. By the time Andy went to high school, his poems were being published in the yearbooks, he was winning poetry prizes, and was Poet Laureate at Parkdale Collegiate.

In 1963, when President John F Kennedy was assassinated, Andy wrote a tribute poem, "A Moment Ago and Then". One of his proudest moments was receiving international recognition by the poem being accepted into the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum (Accessions). Being in the Kennedy library was, and still is, a great honour.

Majoring in English, Andy wanted to become a professional writer and did have some of his work published as a freelancer with Education Television.

At age 21, Andy married the love of his life, Ildi, and together they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2018. Getting married changed his priorities to wanting a family and making a living. That family has grown to include children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

Andy, the Entrepreneur

While working as an employee at a few places and opening and operating a snack bar one summer at Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Andy discovered his entrepreneurial talent. In 1973, he established a European Deli concept, Zeev's, in the York Center building 145 King Street West, in Toronto, owned and operated by Olympia and York Development Company (O&Y). It was a gourmet store that sold sandwiches and hot continental entrees for takeout. In 1975, Harvey Haber wrote a book on commercial leasing. In the book, he added European Deli as a category vs Kosher style Deli, using Andy’s menu from the first Zeev’s store. O&Y was surprised with the success of this store. Albert Reichmann, owner of Olympia and York, personally began to offer Andy other commercial opportunities in their buildings. Over the next few years, Zeev's success grew to over 12 locations. Andy enjoyed the challenge of opening stores, and from 1973 to 1986, Andy went on to open Winter’s Delicatessen, The Fruit Barrel, York Center Pizza, Dad’s Nut and Candy Shoppe, Longfellow’s Sandwiches, along with some retail shops: York Video Store, and The Shirt and Tie store.

The Saint Cinnamon Bake Shoppes Story (1986 to 2017)

Always looking for new ventures, Andy took a trip to the USA with his friend and Lawyer, Stephen Dyment, and that’s where he saw a new cinnamon bun franchise. He was fascinated by the concept and went to their Head Office to ask for the rights to the franchise for Canada. The owners told him that the rights to Canada had been sold, but he could maybe purchase the rights for Ontario from the owners. Andy was disappointed. On the trip home, Stephen asked him if he thought he could create his own cinnamon roll recipe. Being in the food industry for so many years Andy saw no reason why he couldn’t. And so he did. The minute he returned from the trip, he started experimenting to develop his ultimate cinnamon roll. Always a stickler for quality, Andy wanted to create the best cinnamon roll in the market. He researched and sourced the finest ingredients available. After countless hours of trial-and-error baking B.G. (before Google), Andy formulated his special dough mix using Canadian Spring wheat flour combined with the finest flavourings and ingredients. Andy likes to quote Thomas Edison when talking about his trial-and-error period developing cinnamon rolls. In the 1920s, a journalist asked Thomas Edison how it felt to fail 1000 times in his attempt to invent the incandescent lightbulb. He replied, “I didn't fail 1000 times. The lightbulb was an invention with 1000 steps.” Andy created and launched the Saint Cinnamon system. The Saint Cinnamon Bake Shoppes offered 28 flavours of cinnamon rolls with a variety of toppings which was revolutionary to the cinnamon roll industry.

The cinnamon rolls were tested at Ontario Place and see how they would fare in the marketplace compared to muffins and other treats. Saint Cinnamon rolls outsold the muffins and other treats, hands down. In 1986, the first Saint Cinnamon store opened in The Town & Country Mall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (now called Centerpoint Mall). Saint Cinnamon's rolls, which were baked in full view of the customers, quickly became a big hit with Canadians. Toronto Mayor, Mel Lastman wasn’t able to attend one of the local store openings, so Andy created a private tasting for him.

Andy sold his interest in Zeev’s so he could focus full time on Saint Cinnamon. He started opening stores in mall locations throughout Ontario, with the help of Andy’s dear friend, George Budahazy. Andy wasn’t aware that George had become head of leasing for Cadillac Fairview, the largest developer of commercial properties in Canada. In fact, George was with Cadillac Fairview for 19 years, several of those as Vice President. George also gave Yogen Fruz its first opportunity in the Promenade Mall.

As customers approached the Saint Cinnamon stores, the aroma of fresh baked cinnamon rolls was irresistible. At first, the menu was strictly cinnamon rolls, complemented with an array of specialty coffees, teas, and cold beverages. Saint Cinnamon was rolling out a lot of stores and soon earned a world-wide a reputation for baking and offering the finest cinnamon rolls around the globe. More fans and accolades followed. In 1990, Saint Cinnamon received an award from the Food Service and Hospitality Magazine for being the fastest growing QRS (Quick Serve Restaurant) in Canada. At the dinner where the prestigious award was presented to Andy, he commented, “I think anyone who opens a restaurant should receive this award”. By 1990 numerous inquiries from abroad resulted in expansion into international markets.

Andy and Ildi grew the franchise to locations in office buildings, gas stations, and convenience stores. The menu was expanded to include crepes, wraps, sandwiches, and specialty cold beverages. The Saint Cinnamon model fit various retail, licensing, co-branding locations, and special event venues.

In 1994, Andy was on the front page of the Business Section of the Toronto Star.

Andy continued creating new franchises since he enjoyed building the concepts and getting them off the ground, not administrating them. They included Bagel Boys (10 locations), Cupps Coffee House (8 locations), Wallstreet Coffee Roasters.

All in all, Andy created and managed 9 food concepts and over 260 locations. Saint Cinnamon was in 19 countries (alphabetically, Australia, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emeritus, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela).

He became a member of the Institute of Food Technologists in 1993.

He was community-minded in his own backyard and participated in charity events, specifically telethons for the Variety Club of Ontario and the Hospital for Sick Children Telethons for several years.

He participated in the telethon for the Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto in the early 1990s. The Cinnder company mascot was a well-known part of the telethon.

He sponsored local football and hockey teams. He also supported Olympian Shelley-Ann Brown.

Stars such as William Conrad visited Andy’s shoppes.

Saint Cinnamon was warmly received everywhere. It was typical for Andy to receive welcomes on store openings much like these for the Pickering store in 2010.

International welcomes were generally in local newspapers. Here are a few. Most of these papers do not have digital archives.

In 2017, Andy sold all his business interests in Saint Cinnamon so that he could finally turn his focus back to his original dream, producing and publishing his poetry, short stories, and songs.

Andy has remained a community supporter and was recognized by The City of Toronto.

Andy, the songwriter

Andy’s poems and music were always present in his life. Andy was introduced to Bernie Solomon in the 70s, who represented David Clayton Thomas of Blood Sweat and Tears and Dan Hill of “Sometimes When We Touch” fame. Bernie introduced Andy to Ben McPeek, a talented and recognized, Canadian songwriter and owner of Captain Audio Studios. Using Ben’s arrangements, with vocals by Bill Mysner backed with the Laurie Bower Singers, Andy recorded his first songs “Summer Love” and “A Love Forever”. He then worked with Paul Booth from the Tommy Hunter show and released “I Can Hear the Music” and “I Never Really Knew”. He released “I’ll Be There”, a song for his daughter. He also wrote an anthem for the City of Toronto – “Toronto, You are my Destiny”, arranged by Shelly Berger and recorded by musicians from the TSO - Toronto Symphony Orchestra. A commercial version of “Toronto, You Are My Destiny” was produced and sung by Rick Levine. Watch the video.

To date Andy has written over 200 songs, short stories and poems. Because of his love of language, he created a website for people to register sayings. It’s not a copyright agency but rather a place for people to have their sayings logged so they can see their words online. Andy wanted the people who created the sayings to get their due credit rather than see sayings being attributed to celebrities who didn’t say these things. You can even have your saying printed on a mug or Tshirt at his site Register your sayings.

His music is available on TuneCore and a variety of platforms.

His book of poetry is available on Amazon. It includes the lyrics to his music and many of his sayings.

Andy Winter LinkedIn profile