New local store INAC – Indigenous Nations Apparel Company is seeing steady sales since opening its doors in Polo Park back in June.
“It’s kind of shocking at times, you know, to see the number of people that actually still go in there,” owner Michelle Cameron told 680 CJOB.
“It was going to be a temporary store, like a seven month term just to feel it out and see how things were going. But we’ve since met with the Polo Park Cadillac Fairview, and we’ll be signing a long term lease just based on the success that we’ve had so far.”
The store’s name was inspired by the INAC acronym that stood for the former Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
“All these years, INAC was perceived as something negative. It’s like it was like the governing body of our people … we want to take INAC back and turn it into something positive.”
Cameron is selling items sourced from Indigenous artists, buying their work and giving a cut of the profits.
“It feels good to see a non-Indigenous person wearing something that most people think is for just Indigenous people,” said Cameron.
“It’s not just for Indigenous peoples, it’s for everybody.”
Comments