Brabary Gives Back to the Women & Children’s Shelter of Barrie

 It’s our 10^th anniversary! To celebrate our awesome customers, for every item purchased during the month of April, Brabary will be donating a new item to the Women & Children’s Shelter of Barrie. It’s our One for One program, which we’re sharing about on social media using the hashtag #brabarygivesback.

This is about women helping women. Women have been the main cause of our success. We’re not only celebrating 10 years of operating a business; we’re celebrating 10 years of working with women of all stages and all ages, and with every body type. We've shared your laughter and your tears, and you ours.

Women may enter our store not feeling very good about themselves. We see them slumped over, with their shoulders forward, trying to hide their bodies. With a professional bra fitting and the right bra, we’ve seen those same women transformed with visible confidence, now standing tall!

Women at the Women & Children’s Shelter of Barrie may face much different challenges, including violence, marginalization and poverty. We want to do our part to give these women the strength and support to transform their lives.

Our customers inspire us every day. We want to pass on that inspiration to these women, and do our little part to help.

We are grateful for each and every person who has come through our door. Of course that includes our male customers and those who love them. For every pair of men’s SAXX underwear sold in April, we will donate a pair of women’s underwear to the shelter.

About the Women & Children’s Shelter of Barrie

Founded in 1981, The Women & Children’s Shelter of Barrie has been providing shelter and support services to abused women and their children for 30 years. Their mission is to provide a safe refuge and emergency support services for abused women and their children in a commitment to end the cycle of violence.

Visit their website or Facebook page to learn more.

Follow the progress of our #brabarygivesback challenge on Facebook and Twitter.

We’re 10 years old in April!

We’ve seen many changes over these 10 years, including a move seven years ago. We’ve always been thrilled with our current location, with its ample free parking and fantastic neighbours.

Recently we did some renovations to address comments and requests from customers. They liked the size of the store and the amount of stock we can provide, but they (and we) wanted a more intimate setting. One of the things we did was change the lighting to be more welcoming and calming. You can read more of our renovation story in this earlier post.

Our industry has grown and changed a lot over these 10 years, with innovations in technology, research and development by our manufacturers. When we started, a molded cup bra never went above a D cup; now we can get up to an H cup. Even seamless, non-molded bras now go up to a well-fitting G cup. You can even get a really good fitting G or H cup in a strapless bra. It’s tremendous how far they’ve come.

As the industry has changed in what it offers, we’ve expanded our inventory as well. We wanted to get our feet firmly planted before expanding into swimwear and hosiery, and especially before starting to help women with prosthetics, from pre-surgery considerations to getting fitted for prostheses.

In talking to clients about what they wanted in bras and hosiery, we brought in great luxurious Italian brands like Trasparenze and the simple elegance of Phillipe Matignon. This range of mid- to high-end products is unique in Barrie.

Quality is important to us; we don’t do anything halfway. As we’ve expanded our product lines, we’ve taken our time to research the products we feel would be good for our clientele. We continue to listen to our customers and bring in products based on their needs.

This commitment to customer service has been recognized by our community as well. We are honoured to be the recipients of the Bell Business Retail Excellence Award from Barrie Chamber of Commerce in 2008, and the Businesswoman of the Year from Barrie Examiner in 2013.

We support our community in numerous ways, by dedicating time to several charities, as well as donating resources for fundraising. Some of these are listed on our Community page, and others we’ve written about on the blog, like the Barrie Toy Tea, 100 Who Care, and the NSMHPCM Palliative Care Conference.

Our caring staff has grown with us - always eager to learn about new products and finding the perfect fit for you.

Thank you for joining us for this trip down memory lane, and thank you for your continued support. We look forward to the next 10 years with you!

It’s Reading Week

University students across Canada are gearing up for Reading Week. Last year the Dal News (our daughter attends Dalhousie University) put out this list of Top 10 Ways to Spend Reading Week.

Of all those options, we’re glad our daughter will be spending her week at home in Barrie. Here are some of the things we’re thinking about as we prepare for her visit:

Activities

There’s no shortage of things to do in and around Barrie in the wintertime. I would also love to skate or walk along the Ice Trail at Arrowhead Provincial Park.

Meals

I know one of the things my daughter is looking forward to is homemade meals. If Thanksgiving and Christmas are any indication, we’d better loosen our belts because we’ll be indulging in all her favourites.

Family dynamics

There is always an adjustment when someone has been away and returns. She’s bound to get more of our attention, and that won’t go unnoticed by our other children.

And as independent as our kids get when they’re living on their own, back at home they tend to jump right back into the habit of letting Mom do everything for them again. It’s only natural, and can happen when we return home no matter how old we are.

Shopping

Our daughter is in residence so she may not need the same type of care package as someone living on their own. Plus there is only so much she can pack into her luggage for the flight home.

Still, I’m sure her wardrobe will need some replenishing (starting with the bras, of course), and let’s think ahead to spring and warmer weather!

Studying

It’s called Reading Week for a reason, and I’m sure my daughter will have assignments and studying to do. It may be hard to remember that our kids have been developing their own independent study skills at university, and we should encourage that rather than swoop in again like when they were in high school.

Friends

We have to accept that we’re not the only ones our daughter wants to spend time with while she’s here. And it’s not just about sharing her time, I’m also going to have to share my car!

Thinking ahead

Reading Week is a prime time to secure a summer job for when the school year ends in April. In fact, a lot of summer jobs like camps have been hiring already and may even have closed their applications by now.

They’ll be a lot of competition on the job trail. Students can start with a basic web search (“My town + jobs”), and then branch out from there.

Brabary and other local stores often hire summer help because their regular staff want to take time off.

For some students, this is also time to confirm accommodations for next year, if they haven’t already.

Do you have a child coming home for Reading Week? What’s it going to be like at your house?