Moving closer to the heart of St. Boniface

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This article was published 06/10/2015 (3674 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Her store location has changed, but Crystal Adamson’s business philosophy remains the same.

The owner and president of the BraBar & Panterie recently relocated her St. Boniface store from 554 Des Meurons St. to 100-160 Provencher Blvd, which is the former Labelle’s Bridal Boutique building. The business has a second location at Linden Ridge Shopping Centre at 1765 Kenaston Blvd.

While the new space has less square feet than the previous building, it has an open-plan layout better suited to the store’s needs. The BraBar & Panterie is dedicated to women’s all-around breast care, Adamson said, as it offers professional bra fittings and employs certified fitters for post-breast surgery forms and bras.

“The layout in the previous store restricted us because we didn’t have an open space. The main floor consisted of two apartments and we had a bachelor’s apartment space upstairs and when you take an office, kitchen and bathroom out of that, it doesn’t leave you with much,” Adamson, 32, said.

“Now, we have increased visibility and we’re better able to utilize the square-footage. We’ve also increased our product lines and also introduced cup-sized swimwear, where the item is sized like bra sizes rather than, say, sizes two to 14. This enables the item to better fit for the customer, as it’s hard for some women to match their unique fit up top. It’s designed to take you in where you want to be taken in and is a lot more flattering.”

“This fits into our mantra of catering to women individually and personally, especially those who might have a hard time finding a swimsuit that they feel comfortable in. As we settle into our new location, we just want to try and build on our expertise and move onward and upward,” she added.

The River Park South resident said that the response to the move has been positive so far.

“The good thing is that we’re still located close enough to our previous store that people can still find us, especially as we’re a destination store, but we’ve had lots of walk-ins, too, as Provencher is a really busy street for foot traffic, especially during the summer,” Adamson said.

“The key to the move was that we wanted to stay in St. Boniface, as I love St. Boniface. Moving out of the area never occurred to me, so when I saw this building I knew it would be such a good fit.”

Adamson also joined the board of the Provencher BIZ in May and is looking forward to being part of the continued generation of the strip.

“I’m still relatively new to the board, but I’m proud to be part of it. It’s important that all businesses in the area get the opportunity to succeed. The overall vision for the strip is to become a shopping and dining destination with lots of unique boutique shops and restaurants that are individually owned,” Adamson said.

“The francophone community is really proud of its heritage and the business owners are really supportive of each other.”  

   
For more information, go online at www.thebrabar.com

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