You may recognize the classic red signs that hang from the quaint, white storefront of Bregg Cleaners & Tailors near the intersection of Albert Street and Victoria Avenue in Regina’s downtown.
Over the decades, generations of locals have relied on Bregg’s for services like dry cleaning, wedding dress preservation, tailoring and even fur storage.
Monday marked their last day receiving orders.
The manager, Chris Thorsteinson, says his father bought the property in 1988, with documents tracking the establishment back to the 1930s, making it likely the oldest continuously operated dry cleaner in Saskatchewan.
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Since the COVID-19 pandemic, however, things haven’t been the same.
“I mean, there used to be well over 20 cleaners in Regina when I started working here and now I think we’re down to four or five, so I think that says it all,” Thorsteinson said, adding that people aren’t spending money on caring for their clothing like they did in the past.
Thorsteinson began working behind the counter at 11 years old, alongside his grandparents. He recalls fond memories of watching his grandmother prepare him lunch in the shop.
“It was kind of like another sense of community having the family there too. You’d come to work and grandma would be making lunch and then we’d sit down and have lunch and I enjoyed it,” he recalled.
It’s the generations of customers and laughing with his colleagues that he says he’ll miss the most. Otherwise, he remains humble when asked the secret to keeping generations of people coming back to your business.
“I think it was just our quality of work. We tried to put out a good product for a decent price. We always tried to get everything done on time, and it wasn’t really any rocket science, I don’t think,” he said. “It was just hard work and treating people properly.”
Hannah Sangster has more in the video above.
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