In a home in North Point Douglas, there’s a “Robin’s nest” that takes up an entire room — a collection of more than 100 Robin’s Donuts memorabilia. Ronald George Moore, curator of the collection, said he acquired most of the items from market websites like eBay, Kijiji and Facebook. “I’ll tell you right now — I’ve never stolen one … but I would guess that maybe some of these are (stolen) because it’s not like on their website you can buy a lot of merch from Robin’s,” Moore said. “They’ll have a thermos you can buy … but some of these mugs, I’m sure you couldn’t buy this. Someone just walked out of the store with it and probably kept it in a cupboard for 10 years,” he said while looking at his mug collection. Moore said one of the most unique items is a decanter. “(It’s) a Robin’s decanter with some whiskey glasses that say ‘Robin’s Donuts,’ that was really cool. Apparently this guy won them in a golf tournament — Robin’s-sponsored golf tournament, which is neat for sure.” But among all his prized possessions is a gift from Moore’s fiancée. “(It’s) a Robin’s Donuts neon sign. All the neon was busted out, so my girlfriend replaced the neon with the name of my podcast, Manitoba Moneyshot, and I was just like, ‘That is amazing.’” Family tradition Moore credited his introduction to the chain to his childhood. “(It) started way back when I was just a young lad of like 8 or 10, I think … there was a Robin’s right out of the corner of Killarney and Pembina in a strip mall, and my dad and my mom would take me and my sisters there after church every Sunday,” Moore said. “We’d have doughnuts, and they’d have coffee. It was just a tradition that we kept doing for years.” Now 55, Moore said he couldn’t remember what the first item in his collection was, but he remembers winning a contest from the chain. “I believe you sent in ‘What would you do if you won this prize pack?’ and I was saying ‘I’d hang out in Gimli in the winter if I was to win this prize pack,’ and I did. “It was just like a variety of different things that had Robin’s on it, including like a blanket, a backpack and socks and all this stuff.” ‘They haven’t changed the beans in 50 years’ When CTV News asked Moore why he likes Robin’s, his answer started with the basics. “First off, the coffee’s amazing. The coffee is really my favourite thing about Robin’s. They haven’t changed the beans in 50 years. “It’s a reminder of family and home, and it feels like a good place for me personally, spiritually and physically … the employees are amazing, they’re always fun to talk to.” Moore said he doesn’t intend to promote his Robin’s nest since it’s just a “fun thing to do,” but he has an idea for the next step in his journey. “One thing I feel at this point — I should write a book on Robin’s Donuts because there’s really not a lot of information on the net.”
