Candace Grenier - Pure Anada Founder and Formulator
It wasn’t ever in my plans to open a local Pure Anada boutique. I’ve never “dreamed big” as is often suggested to entrepreneurs. It’s far too intimidating! I choose to just go from one little dream to the next.
In 2014 we
were making and shipping natural cosmetics in a commercial garage in
Morden, Manitoba. Having moved from a small shop
on our acreage, we were enjoying more space and the private atmosphere of
producing product behind the scenes.
Our
activities were piquing the curiosity of locals who heard there was a small
company making makeup somewhere in Morden.
Every now and then people would ask if they could come visit our little
operation. Cleaning up for company can
be a little inconvenient to be honest.
Can anyone identify? To make it
simple, we decided to host an open house event for locals to come see Pure
Anada all at one time.
The support
was…very supportive! It was then that
the idea of an actual boutique began to mull in my mind. It’s how every step of growth in my business
begins; a little idea that mulls around in my mind. Then I begin to explore the
idea further, counting the costs and researching what it would take to realize
my dream.
Downtown
Morden had the potential in my mind to become a quaint shopping district. With our historic stone houses, and a couple
businesses already drawing attention, Pure Anada would be a good fit. But if I were to open a boutique it would
need to be dang cute. Not just any hole
in the wall would do. So I went directly
to the owner of the absolute cutest storefront in Morden – the antique store
called Oldies and Goodies. Would he be
interested in selling his building? The
initial answer was no. Until a few weeks
later…the answer changed to maybe, and then eventually yes!
The cost of
this boutique was twice as much as the value of our commercial garage. Such a risk – but we took it! I loved this storefront. It had old, wooden floors that creaked, warm shiplap walls and antique fixtures. We had room in the back to produce our
product and sell our goods up front. We
expected the boutique to be an extremely minor aspect of our day to day
operations. But to our surprise, it was
a success; thanks to the support of our amazing community.
Not only
did the boutique take-off at this time, but so did the private label division
of our company. So much so that we were
in desperate need of more space within a year!
We began negotiating with the owner of the antique store who had moved
into a larger space across the street.
Long story short…we traded buildings!
He moved back to his sweet little store and we acquired a property with
significantly more space. We’re still
enjoying this location in Morden, along with a newly built warehouse we recently
built to accommodate even further growth in our company.
Two years
after the grand opening of our boutique in Morden, we noticed something
interesting. Plenty of people from our
neighboring city were interested in Pure Anada.
The problem is that it’s a much longer drive for Winkler folk to come to
Morden, than it is for Morden folk to drive to Winkler. I’m not sure why that is? But I think it’s always been that way! Locals will know what I’m talking about.
I still
can’t believe my mind went there, but we took a risk, signed a 5 year lease,
and opened a second boutique a mere 15 minute drive away from our Morden
store! It got off to a great start with
a passionate manager who believed in our product and excelled in customer
service. Thanks Susie! It continues to
be a success. Our sales in Morden never
dropped, since there seemed to be two entirely separate clientele groups we
served in the two cities.
The third
Pure Anada boutique was not my next well-calculated business move. I admit, many of my business ventures are
propelled forward by heart-strings, emotions and a touch of feminism. Will this bring me joy? Or as I like to describe the feeling…will it
make my heart sing?
Well, a
Pure Anada boutique in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island would SURELY make my heart
sing! I’ve been a long-time, avid Anne
of Green Gables fan. Ever since the
Sunday afternoon my Auntie Elsie called my Mom to tell her there was a show on
CBC that Candace might like, I was smitten!
I watched the series, and read all of LM Montgomery’s books…twice. So a trip to Anne’s land was inevitable. The trip was a highlight of my life. I went with a group of lovely ladies,
including my very own red-headed daughter!
Our first
morning on the Island was spent at Samuel’s Coffee in the fictional shopping
village of Avonlea. As we walked out, we
saw a charming yellow house for lease.
The sign in the window said to call Peter to view. Why not?
It would make the cutest Pure Anada boutique ever!
Nine months
later, I was flying back to PEI to set up shop!
It takes a lot of thought and planning, but I enjoyed every minute of
it. The girls I took along with me to
help do the physical labor (Emma, Donna and Clarissa) were so incredible! After everything looked just right, we passed
the reigns to 4 local girls to take care of the boutique for the rest of the
summer. Servicing tourists was a
different ball game, which we knew it would be.
Sales were mostly small ticket items that people could easily take with
them on their journey.
Our fourth
boutique is now up and running in Cochrane, Alberta. The small city reminded us of Morden in some
ways, with a historic downtown district.
The vibe seemed to suit our brand image in a lot of ways. This store also started out with one of our
team members seeing a “for lease” sign in a cute storefront. It was a former restaurant and the
prospective space was a Victorian dining room.
Tiffany, our social media manager was looking for adventure and took the
opportunity to move west to manage Pure Anada, Cochrane.
Are there
plans for more? No there are not! However...I've said that before.
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