Fur business heats up
On one year anniversary, Aurora Heat now available in 38 locations
Jessica Davey-Quantick
Northern News Services
Friday, March 3, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Just a year after opening, Brenda Dragon's business is heating up.
Brenda Dragon, left, credits growing up with her mother, Jane Dragon, front, for teaching the skills to make her business a success. - photo courtesy of Brenda Dragon
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Her handmade fur hand and foot warmers, called Aurora Heat, hit the market last March and a year later, are now available in 38 stores as well as online.
"You know why? It's kind of like O'Henry Bar: everybody needs them," said Dragon.
The first place to carry her products in Yellowknife was the visitor's centre, but a year later they're everywhere, including Sutherland's Drugs, Overlander Sports and Weaver & Devore Trading. They're also on sale in Yukon and Nunavut. All of the items are handmade in Fort Smith.
Describing herself Chipewyan and French, Dragon grew up around fur.
"My mom was a sewer, my dad a trapper. And in her later years she was a trapper with him," she said. "She sewed us mitts and mukluks and she always put fur - just little scraps of fur - into the mittens to keep us warm."
After her father passed away, she wanted a way to continue his legacy of trapping.
All her products are made from Genuine Mackenzie Valley beaver fur.
"It's really the Northern solution - it's what has been used by Northern people for thousands of years," she said.
Beaver in particular, with its thick under-hair sometimes called beaver "wool," is particularly good at keeping extremities toasty warm.
"We've come to use fur as more decorative, it's still very warm," said Dragon. "When you place fur next to your skin, it acts as an incredible insulator and it traps your own heat."
It's a solution that isn't staying in the North. Dragon said southerners are also starting to latch onto the idea of keeping warm with fur, with customers in British Columbia and Alberta. And now her warmers on their way to Ottawa - Dragon gifted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with a pair of hand warmers when he came to Yellowknife last month.
The hand warmers are built to fit inside mittens or gloves, while the foot warmers are shaped to fit over toes inside boots, shoes or skates. Although she does sell many sets to tourists, Dragon said she's noticed many locals getting up close and personal with her furs too.
"People love the idea of a reusable all natural product," said Dragon.
