Isabelle Chrétien with her son Xavier and staff members
“It takes a lot of work to get to know the products so we can advise customers, and good management to control inventory. But it’s worth the effort because it gives a big boost to in-store traffic and sales”
24
|
“THEY’RE ALL MADE RIGHT HERE IN OUR KITCHEN FROM FAMILY RECIPES”
“It takes a lot of work to get to know the products so we can advise customers, and good management to control inventory,” says Chrétien. “But it’s worth the effort because it gives a big boost to in-store traffic and sales.” In addition to her craft beer offering, which she promotes on social media and as an official sponsor at local fundraising events, Chrétien also lauds the popularity of the homemade sandwiches, salads, snacks and other ready-toeat items she introduced to the business. “They’re all made right here in our kitchen from family recipes,” says Chrétien. “People love them. I often hear people say that our sandwiches and spaghetti sauce taste just like the ones their moms used to make.” That’s music to the ears of Chrétien, who was born and raised in a Contrecoeur family that boasted several small business owners. Among Chrétien’s earliest memories is playing store in her family’s garage, where she would use an old cash register to ring up pretend orders of toilet paper, toothpaste and other household items her parents stockpiled. “I have an innate sense of business,” says Chrétien. “And I’ve always wanted to be my own boss.” After finishing high school and a college-level accounting program (where one of her teachers was her uncle Roger), Chrétien worked at a lo-
| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
cal chartered accountant’s office for four years. She also moonlighted at her uncle’s store, which was then one of three businesses operating out of the old general store he bought on rue Marie-Victorin, Contrecoeur’s main street, a stone’s throw from the town church. “It was a very small, traditional dépanneur that sold penny candies, pop and beer and rented videos,” says Chrétien, who at 18 moved with her future husband into an apartment above the store, next to her uncle and aunt’s unit. “But it was very busy because it was so well located.” After owning and operating a nearby bar with her husband for 10 years, the couple opened a video store in a vacant space in her uncle’s building, right next to his c-store. When that business folded, Chrétien convinced her uncle to expand his store into that space, which she subsequently filled with craft beer. “It took time for me to convince him,” says Chrétien. “But once he accepted the idea he was very supportive and made the necessary investments. I’ll always be very grateful to him. He was like a second father to me.” Around the same time, Chrétien and her then-husband rented a c-store and gas station in nearby Boucherville, setting up what Chrétien calls “a carbon copy” of the Contrecoeur store.
CCentral.ca