This Canadian women's clothing company has been in business for 95 years

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In 1930, Laura Wolstein opened her first boutique on St. Hubert Avenue in Montreal.

Focusing on service, the womenswear boutique became a go-to for stylish shoppers in the city. Ninety-five years later, that original boutique has blossomed into a cross-Canada, family owned clothing company called Laura.

“At Laura, women transform the way they dress, unlocking a new confidence guided by our personable, talented style advisers and cohesive collections of easy-to-wear styles in over 80 stores across Canada,” says Josh Fisher, the senior vice-president of Laura Canada.

We caught up with Fisher to learn more:

Q: What makes Laura unique?

A: Our customers deserve to feel great in their clothes and want to be able to get dressed with confidence. We focus on attracting style advisers who love to empower people, have a skill for inspiring and uplifting, and the talent to assemble flattering outfits for each customer. Over time, this has become more unique in retail.

We aim to make the shopping experience itself enjoyable and do everything we can to leave customers empowered to get dressed to look and feel their best every day. In today’s disconnected digital age, genuine, face-to-face connections are more important than ever, and women ought to feel great about how they present themselves. Many women’s resolve to find confidence in their style is strongest when preparing for milestone events, which is how Laura has earned a reputation as Canada’s leading destination for special occasion dresses.

Q: What has changed throughout the past 95 years? 

A: I’m 43 so part of this is second-hand. Fashion has obviously changed, dressing has become more casual and the supply chain more global. The malls have introduced more international brands to our markets, and much more fast-fashion. This has contributed to the despair many women feel, and makes our mission even more important. Nearly all customers are now attached to smartphones, get emails and browse online. But stores are where we truly connect.

Q: And what has stayed the same? 

A: Our focus on helping women discover the power of fashion as a vehicle of self-expression, joy and connection. We’ve always cultivated a culture of empowering customers to put together flattering outfits to feel their best, and sought to hire people who derive gratification from helping women in that way. We’re fortunate that over 100 employees have been with us at least 10 years. Our long-term view on business strategy, enabled by our family owned and operated structure. And pride in our Canadian heritage.

On that point, all our collections are designed in Montreal, and nearly 30 per cent of our styles are still manufactured in Canada. We recently developed a 30-second ad for TV for the first time. Our marketing team moved quickly when we saw the fear and frustrations around the trade war and political narratives. We wanted to remind people that there’s a lot of pride and uniqueness in our shared identity as Canadians. It really resonated with employees and customers.

Q: The Canadian fashion and retail industry can be tough. To what do you attribute Laura’s enduring success? 

A: Staying focused on the role we play in empowering our customers to look their best. And treating employees the way we want them to treat the customers.

Q: What’s next for the company? 

A: We continue to get more focused with our product assortment to drive more accessible merchandising displays. We continue to update and upgrade, with new stores and renovations planned for this fall and next spring, the new Shopify Point of Sale and payments system for all stores, a DC upgrade, a renewed investment in training and skill development, etc. And we stand ready to guide the next woman who walks into one of our stores, ready to take a step towards becoming her own stylist.