After 37 years as Fashion Shop owner/operator, Gemma Chiarelli will be closing the doors of her downtown ladies fashion store in late September.
“It’s been rewarding. It certainly has been hard work. Basically I’ve worked six days a week for the past 37 years. It’s all been hands on. It’s been a commitment,” but one she has clearly enjoyed, speaking to SooToday by phone Wednesday with a smile in her voice.
“Along the way I’ve made a lot of friends. My main success is the fact that I’ve had a lot of loyal customers who have become friends. It’s been a destination place. It’s been a personal shopping experience for the customers. Customers come and spend hours with me. We’ve talked about our families while I’ve sold them clothes and coordinated their wardrobes. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last 37 years and along the way I’ve been very, very fortunate to have the loyalty of my clientele.”
“That’s the true success of my business,” Gemma said.
Fashion Shop, under Gemma, has served high-end clothing for “the mature woman,” including formal wear and sportswear, skilfully surviving various dips in the economy over the years.
She has sold clothing to countless women, both locals and some from other communities, for their workplaces and special occasions.
“I still have people who come from out of town and their first destination is to come here. We suit them out, alter all the clothes and when they come back to pick it up, everything is done,” Gemma said.
“There's been a lot of fashion changes...when I first started in the early 1980s it was the Dallas and Dynasty era with big padded shoulders like Linda Evans and all those actors wore, all the glitz.”
Not only that, the ladies fashion scene has also witnessed the change from selling almost exclusively knee length skirts to the inclusion of pants for both business and casual purposes.
“I sell what I call ‘high-end casual’ now...in my career I’ve been what I call ‘ideal and classic,’ because that’s what I like. ‘Classic’ is what’s kept me going, and service. Good service means so much.”
Gemma praised her loyal team of employees.
“I’ve had the same staff (for many years). One lady I’ve had was here before me and she’s been with me the whole time, and another one’s been here for over 30 years.”
“My husband (also a local business owner who has now been retired for five years) and I discussed it (Gemma’s retirement) last fall.”
Gemma, a mother of two and grandmother of four, said “it’s time to enjoy my family. I’ve got to have a little time for myself and a lot of time for my family now.”
“I think for my first few months of retirement I’m just going to take it easy. I think I’ll read some books. I haven’t done that in years,” she chuckled.
Fashion Shop was established by its original owner Violet Kuittinen in 1945 opposite the original Memorial Gardens (the forerunner to today’s GFL Memorial Gardens).
The business moved farther along the north side of Queen Street East before shifting to its current location at 555 Queen St. E., on the south side of Queen, in 1961, Gemma said.
Original Fashion Shop owner Violet Kuittinen sold the store to new owners in 1958.
Gemma, in turn, purchased Fashion Shop for herself in 1983.
Gemma, a Bawating Collegiate graduate, began her career in the early 1960s as an administrative assistant for a local construction company, then Algoma Steel, before going into the ladies fashion retail sector.
She worked and did some modelling for Ogidaki Mountain General Store and Wildflowers, then started working at Fashion Shop in 1981 before buying the store two years later.
Of her longtime, faithful customers and friends, Gemma said she plans to make time to enjoy lunches and conversations with them in her retirement.