The Tiki bar is open: Fredericton man turns tropical huts into full time business

N.B. man turns hobby into fulltime business Fredericton's Steve Wiggins took his tiki-making skills from hobby to fulltime job.

FREDERICTON — You may miss going down south this year, but thanks to a Fredericton handyman, you can bring tropical vibes into your own backyard.

Steve Wiggins builds Tiki bars, and it's transformed into his full time business, Ultimate Tiki.

"I guess from going down south and just liking that whole vibe and we wanted to find a way to bring it back to Canada and we built one here kind of for ourselves and put it on the back deck and went from there,” says Wiggins.

Pre-pandemic, Wiggins practiced cabinetry and carpentry as a hobby. But when word of his homemade Tikis spread, he took on the business full time, making dream backyards a reality.

"There we that would have normally went down south and in stead they invested that money into their back yards and they brought the south to here,” he said.

The Tiki bars and huts are made from creativity and hard work, and materials resistant to Canadian weather.

"A lot of them love it and a lot of people ask if it's a kit something that we buy and then we tell them that we build it from scratch whatever style, size, colour they like to see so it's very custom and that's the market we're after,” Wiggins said.

Wiggins is out to prove Tiki living isn't just for year-round hot weather climates.

"Everybody a lot of times it's people that have already invested some money into their backyard and they have a nice pool or something and they want a custom vibe, and something with a thatch roofing so this is a perfect solution so for those type of people,” he said.

“People who go down south and they like that whole vibe as well, and they want to come back to Fredericton and have it when they're here.”

You can find Wiggins' creations on the Ultimate Tiki Facebook page.

Bringing a little bit of the Bahamas to New Brunswick.