Gil and Darlene Hegel already had a home where the buffalo roam—their ranch outside Valhalla Centre in northern Alberta. What they lacked was a home base close to their Valta Bison booth in the Calgary Farmers’ Market. And so it was last fall they happened across a 400-square-foot storefront in the inner-city neighbourhood of Ramsay. The spruced-up store opened last fall, offering Hotchkiss greens, freshly baked bread, saskatoon berry pies and assorted jams and teas. Of course the heart of the 1911 shop is the Hegels’ naturally raised bison. “It’s appropriate in a way,” Darlene says. “It’s a heritage building for a heritage animal.” —Bruce Weir