REGINA — Chris Thorsteinson remembers riding his bike down to his family business, Bregg Cleaners, Tailors & Furriers, when he was 11 years old.
He and his dad, Terry Thorsteinson, dedicated nearly 40 years to serving the City of Regina, but that chapter is now coming to an end.
“It's taken a lot of hard work to do this, and to keep it going that long is, I think, an accomplishment. It would have been nice to keep going; it just wasn't working out,” said Chris.
“We’ve seen a decline of 40 per cent in businesses in the past 10 years,” said Chris.
He explained people’s habits for investing in clothing have changed.
“COVID definitely was a catalyst to it, but people stay at home, they don't dress up as much, they work from their basements, and there just aren't the volumes anymore.”
While revenue has gone down, costs have also increased.
“Everything from your solvent to your hangers to everything else, like groceries or whatever, it's gone up considerably, and everything goes up and up every year, so it just doesn't work.”
The family had been attempting to sell the 1947 Albert Street building for some time, but no offers came forward, resulting in the closure being made public two weeks ago.
Since then, Chris said customers who’ve come to the store for upwards of 30 years were saddened by the news.
“We were in people's houses twice a week or whatever; they come in themselves and pick up and drop off, so we had become part of their schedule and their routine.”
The store will stop serving customers on Aug. 10, with the last day of pickup on Aug. 18.
Chris said there will be several good memories he will always have at the store.
“The laughs, the inside jokes. My grandparents used to work here too, so we'd sit and have lunch sometimes together, and those are some of the things I'll take away as good memories.”
