 | Home page |  | Text size |  | E-mail this page |
Damsels in Blue Jeans closing Store manager chooses new career path
Lyndsay Herman
Northern News Services
Published Tuesday, June 11, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Approximately a year after opening, Damsels in Blue Jeans is closing its doors now that store manager Andrea Thivierge will be pursing other career options.
Damsels in Blue Jeans is closing after one year in operation now that manager Andrea Thivierge has decided to pursue nursing studies or a personal trainer certification. - Lyndsay Herman/NNSL photo
|
"It really came down to the big picture," said Thivierge. "If I'm not sure that I'll dedicate my time to Yellowknife longterm it doesn’t make sense to invest more time in the store."
Instead, Thivierge has applied to study nursing at Aurora College with a backup plan to become a certified personal trainer.
She currently teaches classes at Break Away Fitness Centre and tends bar and serves at Twist Burger Bar and Fuego, in addition to running Damsels in Blue Jeans.
After Damsels opened and was running smoothly, Thivierge picked up the two jobs, she said. Retail didn't have the constant rush and bustle she was used to after working for years in the service industry, she added.
A year later, she decided the workload was too much, but when she evaluated which of the jobs was most satisfying, she realized her true passion was in health and fitness.
The birth of her first nephew and a "tight-knit" family in Ontario made living far from home tough and running a business didn't leave a lot of time for travel.
Thivierge's uncle, Barry Neary, is Damsels' proprietor and also owns Flowers North and For Men Only in the lower level of YK Centre.
He has operated businesses in Yellowknife since the 1980s and has lived in Yellowknife for more than 40 years.
After arriving in the city as a 19-year-old with nothing but his station wagon, Neary eventually opened For Men Only in 1997 and bought Flowers North in 2010.
Thivierge and her uncle have decided not to find another manager for Damsels in Blue Jeans once she decided to pursue other interests, she said.
"We knew from the beginning it would be a trial," she added.
In the next few years, Neary plans to retire and spend most of his time in a condo he owns in Summerland, B.C.
Eventually, the plan is to leave For Men Only in the capable hands of his niece and Thivierge's sister, Chantelle Thivierge, and Flowers North in the hands of Terry Heslep.
| 
