Business Bungalow opens in Norwood
Pandemic changed the way many of us work every day
The village’s newest commercial venture is a first for Norwood. The Business Bungalow officially opened its doors March 8 with a well-attended open house. The self-contained bungalow is home to five individual private office spaces available for either short- or longterm lease or rent.
The Business Bungalow is the creation of area resident Andrew Greaves, who has been an active member of the Norwood community since 2015, when he moved here with his wife — a Norwood native — and family. After many years of working and travelling for the gas and oil industry, Greaves decided in 2023 to set up his own business. While working from home was convenient, it was soon obvious with a busy family functioning around him that an outside space just for work would be better. Thus the idea for the office bungalow was born.
The opportunity presented itself when the former MJ’s Hair Design building on Colborne Street came up for sale. (MJ’s moved next door.) The location right on Norwood’s main street downtown was perfect for the creation of the office sharing facility. (Officially the address is 2364 County Rd. 45.)
Once the sale was finalized, work began immediately to convert the building into five private offices with shared kitchen and washroom facilities. The building is also completely accessible and all offices are equipped with high-speed internet access.
One space is reserved exclusively for daily rentals, while the remaining four are available for longer terms as required. Rentals can be booked by email to norwoodbusinessbungalow@gmail.com, by phone at 647-268-2724 and online through the website norwoodbusinessbungalow.com.
Greaves’s journey to Norwood is quite unique. He is originally from South Africa; however, he moved to London, England, in 1997, where he met and subsequently married Stephanie Hodge-Greaves in 2008. Hodge-Greaves is a Norwood native who was living and working in England for a number of years. In 2015, the couple decided to make the move to Canada — Norwood specifically so their children could grow up in the community close to Stephanie’s family.
Community involvement is important to Greaves and he believes in being active and doing his part, such as becoming a member of the Norwood Lions in January 2023 and serving on the board of stewards for the Norwood United Church.
Greaves’s wife will be a wellknown and familiar face for many. While her family has lived in the area for decades, Hodge-Greaves is serving her community as an Asphodel-Norwood councillor.
Coincidentally, Stephanie’s husband’s new Business Bungalow venture has had the added bonus of providing the councillor with an opportunity to deliver on one of her key election commitments — to hold regular open office times so residents can share their concerns and ask questions.
“I believe in democracy; this is why I ran for council,” HodgeGreaves explained. “Democracy is an important and globally underthreat institution and I want to bring open, transparent and friendly discussion to the community at a grassroots level.”
Her mission seems to be a success as several people dropped in during her first open-office session recently.
It is interesting to note how the way business is conducted has changed. Only a few years ago, the concept of renting an office for a day would have been bit of a rarity. Of course, the pandemic years changed the way we do a lot of things. If anything good can be said about those worrisome times, it could be it did show us many occupations really do not require the traditional 9 to 5 — five days a week office environment to function.
Thanks to modern technology, it quickly became evident most duties could be fulfilled successfully without the daily commute. Even with the pandemic threat now diminishing, many professions have opted to continue this work-fromhome trend. This trend has helped Asphodel-Norwood’s rapid growth in the past couple of years as many employees no longer need to live close to their workplace and have chosen to make their home in smaller communities.
There are still situations that require the four walls of an office, such as physically meeting with clients or colleagues when a Zoom meeting just doesn’t do it. This in turn creates an opportunity for ventures like the Norwood Business Bungalow to cater to and fulfil a new niche in the business community. Plus, while working from home does have certain advantages, it is also desirable to just get out of the house every now and again.