Building a life in beauty

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/08/2021 (1772 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Back in the 1980s, when I was a student at the University of Winnipeg on Portage Avenue, the street still held suggestions of its past glamour as an energetic, exciting destination.

Eaton’s and The Bay were still open and  held promotional events and fashion shows with local models who became quite familiar for their visibility in local ad campaigns.

These things became part of a collective buzz that symbolized the downtown.

To me, part of that buzz was Jane Baniuk, the cosmetics manager at the Shoppers Drug Mart, formerly located on Portage Avenue near Donald Street.

Jane knew everything about cosmetics. She also looked like any model seen on the packaging of the cosmetics she sold, or maybe a movie star. Many of my university friends knew who she was, and for many she was the go-to girl for beauty. She appeared in a Winnipeg Free Press story about cosmetics.

I recall that, at that time, Jane typically wore high-heeled shoes, a three-quarter length pencil skirt and a crisp blouse. She had the most luxuriously thick, straight, beachy streaked hair that fell to her waist. When she turned, her hair moved in a slinky swish behind her.

Many years later I rediscovered Jane at the Henderson Highway Shoppers Drug Mart. She looked very much the same, only now her hair is shorter.

For 41 years Jane has enjoyed a rewarding career in the beauty industry with the same company.

Jane told me that her mother used to say she knew her daughter was destined for such a career when, after watching her mother apply makeup, Jane began making up her dolls using mom’s lipstick and anything else she could find.

After graduating from Transcona Collegiate, Jane worked in an office, but decided to transition to a people-centred position in an industry she loved.

Jane has seen the beauty industry change in interesting ways. Nowadays, staff keep up via ongoing classes in all aspects of cosmetics as well as with special classes every spring and fall as fashion seasons change.

When Jane first started, there was no such training.

“I bought every beauty magazine I could find and I read them all,” she said. 

She said she also dutifully read product packaging to learn as much as she could.

Jane said the internet has affected shopping habits and unlike in the past, beauty shoppers, especially young girls, know exactly what they want but need help picking out the right products to achieve their desired look.

“I am thankful I chose Shoppers to work for”, Jane said, adding that while many stores have closed, Shoppers has only grown. She enjoys interacting with customers – some of whom have remained loyal for years.

Shirley Kowalchuk is a Winnipeg writer who loves her childhood home of East Kildonan where she still resides. She can be reached at sakowalchuk1@gmail.com

Shirley Kowalchuk
East Kildonan community correspondent

Shirley Kowalchuk is a Winnipeg writer who loves her childhood home of East Kildonan, where she still resides. She can be reached at sakowalchuk1@gmail.com

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