Our Story

With everything going on in our world today, we thought this would be the perfect time to slow down and give some of our new followers and friends a little insight behind Boes, who we are and how we got to where we are today! We’re Laurie & Courtney, a mother-daughter duo, and the 2nd and 3rd generation behind the Boes brand.

Boes first opened its doors on August 20th, 1969 in Grant Park Shopping Centre by our Father & Grandfather, Bo Schussler. We just celebrated our 50th anniversary in August! Many people wonder where the name Boes comes from and it was derived from the plural version of Bo’s name. The peacock feather was our initial logo, symbolizing unique, but beautiful style that stands out from the rest. To this day, a life-sized peacock feather sits above our office as a constant reminder of why all this was started. At one point, there were 8 locations spanning across Manitoba & Saskatchewan, but now we have scaled it back to just two - Polo Park & St. Vital Centre.

I (Laurie), started in the business when I was just a little girl, riding my bike with my dad to the Polo Park Store every Saturday. Our store in Polo Park has been open since 1971! We’ve moved and remodelled many times during this period. In 1988, my dad suddenly passed from kidney cancer, and I was thrown in to take over the business with my husband, Ken. As a 28 year old left to run this amazing company my father had created, I was terrified and wanted nothing but to make him proud and continue on his legacy. Many years later, in 2015, Courtney officially joined the company after graduating from the Asper School of Business with a degree in Marketing and Human Resources. Together over the past five years, we have worked to re-brand Boes and transition it into a modern accessory destination for women & men, alike! We launched our online shop in 2017, and are continuing to learn how to navigate this new retail space, and all the challenges that come along with owning a small local business in today’s modern world.

Want to see more of how Boes has changed over the years? Check out some of the images below! Have any other questions we didn’t answer? Leave us a comment and we’ll get back to you!

Thanks so much for following along! We wouldn’t be here today without all of you.

Winnipeg, we love you!