Now you see him … now you see him again

In spite of name changes and location changes, Brian Lauzon’s business is thriving

Brian Lauzon applies corporate and sports team logos to athletic wear at his store, 1st Impressions, in Cranbrook, B.C. — Marie Milner photo

Though his store’s visibility has varied over the years, and his merchandise has changed and then changed back again, and even the business name has changed—from Kootenay Sports Cards and Collectibles to 1st Impressions—Brian Lauzon says that business is good and his customers are loyal.

Lauzon used to be in the flooring business, and had a little sports card and memorabilia shop as a sideline. Fourteen years ago when the Cranbrook RecPlex (now Western Financial Place) was being built, the Kootenay Ice hockey club approached Lauzon about handling their merchandise and invited him to move his shop into the arena. Lauzon agreed, and closed the door on his flooring business.

“I like the creativity of this work—the satisfaction of making a nice piece of clothing—and promoting whatever the group is,” Lauzon said. “We do apparel for all kinds of teams, and we do corporate wear too. You can come to us for T-shirt printing, silkscreening, embroidery and laser engraving.”

Business went fine for a number of years, and then Lauzon moved the bulk of his merchandise to his warehouse, leaving the Kootenay Ice portion to a new merchant at the arena. A couple of years later the hockey club asked Lauzon to take them on again, and he agreed. The retail space at the sports complex was not available, so Lauzon set up shop about a year ago in a storefront at 11A - 14th Avenue South in Cranbrook, right next to the Safeway parking lot.

“We’re working a lot with Mount Baker Secondary School right now, and it’s upbeat work,” Lauzon said. “I like that we’re supporting these groups and businesses.”

Speaking about his plans for the future, Lauzon said, “We always want to increase our technology so we can attract customers and leave our competitors in the dust!”