Visitors GuideWenches and Rogues, one of the leading fashion stores in St. John's, has gone out of business after 10 years of selling and promoting Canadian-designed clothing.
The store also had two outlets in Toronto, where the city named owner Jane Mifflin the fashion retailer of the year. Mifflin could not be reached for comment and she hasn't said anything publicaly about why the stores in St. John's and Toronto have closed.
Robin Kay, president of the Fashion Designers Council of Canada and Mifflin's friend says people aren't buying enough Canadian-designed clothing. "We are not as a country supportive of our own designers," Kay says."If we don't ask for Canadian and buy Canadian and wear Canadian then Canadian designers do not get sold."
Designer Crystal Seimens sold her clothes to Wenches and Rogues. While she won't comment directly on the closure, she says last year's SARS outbreak in Toronto had a big impact on tourism and retail spending, depriving high-end clothing stores of millions of dollars. Siemens says consumers and designers will feel the loss of the business. "I think Wenches and Rogues will be missed because it has always been a store that has been an advocate for change and really tried to bring Canadian design to the forefront."
Seimens echoes Kay by saying there are not enough retailers to sell Canadian fashions and not enough consumers to buy them.
CBC Radio, Wednesdays, April 14, 2004
