Local medical scrubs retailer feeling abandoned by U of M, RRC Polytech nursing programs

A Winnipeg uniform store is appealing to medical students to shop locally for scrubs this back-to-school season as it grapples with growing competition online and an apparent shutout by local campuses.

Unimor Healthwear has long ordered uniforms in bulk in navy blue, burgundy and pewter, as nurses-in-training are required to wear those colours based on where they’re enrolled in the province.

“It’s not like it used to be,” Evan Schwartz said about customer traffic to his store at 98 Sherbrook St.

The company’s director estimated he spent about $15,000 to stock up on scrubs in pewter in preparation for the launch of Red River College Polytechnic’s upcoming nursing intake.

Schwartz said a single RRC Polytech student has stopped by to get outfitted at the shop in recent weeks compared to nearly 100 who visited during the same period last year.

“I stocked up. I got everything ready. I kept sending emails (to RRC Polytechnic staff), ‘When are the students coming? How many can we expect?’ and no students came,” he said, adding he’s been trying to figure out why some local schools have seemingly stopped promoting the company as a go-to retailer for high-quality antimicrobial scrubs.

August is typically the store’s busiest month of the year. Business was booming during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has been on a steady decline since then — a trend that Schwartz attributes to consumers’ growing reliance on Amazon and the popularity of American medical apparel company FIGS.

Unimor’s 2024 sales of navy blue scrubs — the University of Manitoba’s nursing uniform— dropped to a quarter of what they were a year earlier, he noted.

Before the pandemic, Unimor staff visited campuses to help students try different scrubs and sizes during their orientation. COVID-19 disruptions led to a shift; the company prepared and distributed slideshows and flyers for instructors to share with nurses in training.

The director said he’s grateful the Université de Saint-Boniface, which asks students to wear burgundy scrubs with an embroidered USB logo on a sleeve, has continued to engage in a partnership. But institution leaders elsewhere have stopped responding to the local retailer’s requests and appear to no longer be promoting the business, he said.

Joanne Pham, vice-president internal for the RRC Polytech Nursing Students’ Association, said her school recommended she and her classmates visit Unimor to pick up uniforms in their first year.

Pham said she was unaware of any changes to its endorsement Thursday. While noting she received hand-me down scrubs from a sibling who studied at RRC Polytech, she said other students visited the shop or purchased gently used scrubs online.

RRC Polytech requires students to wear pewter scrubs with a polytechnic chevron “properly adhered to the right sleeve, just above the hem,” monochromatic shoes and a name tag, she said.

Spokespeople for U of M and RRC Polytech issued similar statements on Thursday saying students must wear uniforms that align with program requirements, but they can purchase them wherever they’d like.

U of M’s nursing college has never had a formal contract with Unimor or another company for scrubs, said Ilana Simon, communications manager for the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

Emily Doer of RRC Polytech said students can purchase supplies anywhere, including the campus store, which partners with Canadian suppliers to make products available to “meet the needs of our programs… at a price point that is accessible.”

Schwartz, who studied business administration at RRC Polytech, said he’s determined to regain his alma mater’s endorsement.

“There’s something meaningful about being educated by a local institution and then building a local business with the knowledge they gave me that can serve its students,” he said.

While noting he’s guilty of ordering items online on occasion, Schwartz said storefronts give customers the opportunity to ask questions, find the perfect fit and support their neighbours.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca