A great fit for the community

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This article was published 09/02/2021 (1882 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Navigating the pandemic from an entrepreneurial perspective has been a learning curve for many local business owners.

Among them is Crystal Adamson, who is the owner and president of the BraBar & Panterie. The business has two locations in Winnipeg — 100-160 Provencher Blvd. and J-1765 Kenaston Blvd. at the Linden Ridge Shopping Centre.

The BraBar & Panterie is dedicated to women’s all-around breast care, and it offers a number of specialized services such professional fittings and it employs certified fitters for post-surgery services. The business is an approved vendor for CancerCare Manitoba’s Breast Prothesis Program, and it offers a wide range of post-surgical bras, mastectomy bras and breast forms to provide comfort and help restoring natural shape.

Like many local entrepreneurs, Adamson has been affected by the stop-start nature of the health orders and lockdowns since March 2020, and at times has felt some frustration when trying to clarify which elements her business were considered essential and non-essential, and she contacted officials on more than one occasion to seek clarity.

The River Park South resident was also disappointed with the disparity when big box stores selling non-essential items were allowed to remain open because they also sold essential items — while smaller businesses selling non-essential items had to close. She was pleased when that eventually changed.    

“The province corrected this, which was the right move,” Adamson, 37, told The Lance recently.
“We sell bras and underwear, but we also have a strong service element to our business, which involves being in close quarters with our clients, so we needed clarity on if and how we could operate,” she added, noting the nature of her business means she has always had policies and protocols in place to ensure things are done as safely as possible. “As a responsible business owner, I’ve tried to do my best to navigate through this.”

Conversely, there have been several major positives for Adamson in recent months. One of these is that her computer operating system has been overhauled, which has streamlined her process.

“This allowed us to put up an online store that is linked to our inventory, which has come at a really good time,” she said.

Another big plus, Adamson added, is the sense of community and camaraderie that been strengthened by so many people pulling in the same direction.

“We’re all in this together, and the business community has been strong in its collective support,” she said. “We’ve been asking ourselves how can we help each other out? Our online store is up and running, and we’ve had some great feedback from our customers. People have been trying to support each other and buy local. What we do is really important, and when people show us they really value our goals it makes me so proud to be a business owner in the community.”

Go online at www.thebrabar.com for more information.