Brigitte Comeau is a third-year Business Administration student at UNB. She is majoring in Marketing and decided to go into the program following her parents and her sister’s business background. Like many students attending university, Comeau was not sure of what career she wanted to pursue, and business made the most sense to her.
So far, Comeau is glad she chose the program and is enjoying her classes. Everything she has learned in class has helped her develop her own sustainable fashion clothing business.
Her business is called The One Stop Sustainability Shop, and opened at the beginning of 2019. When Comeau turned 16, she started buying all her clothes from thrift stores, finding it hard sometimes to get clothes of her size. That motivated Comeau to teach herself how to do a basic stitch on the sewing machine to alter her clothes and she kept on customizing her clothes for years.
Her best friend, Emily Bourque, encouraged her to do something with her passion, and they came up with a sustainable business incorporating Comeau’s sewing skills and Bourque’s painting skills. The One Stop Sustainability Shop started selling clothes made from recycled fabrics and painted pots. Comeau and Bourque are both passionate about the environment, so they made sure everything would be eco-friendly.
When we asked Comeau how she manages schoolwork and her business, she said it was a tricky thing to do. Comeau is a full-time student and athlete in addition to single handedly trying to manage her own business, but she efficiently manages her time to keep up with her work. She puts a lot of effort into her clothing pieces, and she only posts pieces that she is proud of on her Instagram page.
However, schoolwork has made her have less time to sew and to upload posts on her business Instagram page, but that doesn’t keep Comeau from working on her business. Comeau takes advantage of all the time off that she has and dedicates it to sewing new pieces. She told us that once reading week and Christmas break come around, there will be better and more consistent postings on her page.
The fabric that she uses for her clothing pieces is primarily from thrift stores. Still, she mentioned that she has also received material from people who have heard of the business and happened to have some extra material lying around and that she appreciates the help. Her designs are minimalistic, but she is also open to requests from people who would like to have their clothes customized.
“If you have a request, it doesn’t hurt to ask, and I’ll help you to the best of my abilities!” she said.
The public has been very supportive of Comeau’s business. She mentioned that as a consumer, she would be happy to support a local sustainable business and that she figured that others would as well. Her shop received a lot of love and support after an interview they had with CBC news. Comeau mentioned that even though they are a small shop with only 600 Instagram followers, their main goal is to spread the word of sustainability and to get people to be more conscious of the impact their actions have on the environment.
Her next step for developing her business is to get on different social media platforms such as Facebook and Etsy. Comeau would also like to expand and maybe get a spot at the market. She plans to incorporate more products such as shampoo bars and beeswax and make her designs for all genders.
Go check out the Comeau’s shop on Instagram @onestopsustainabilityshop, where you direct message her to purchase what you like. Even if it says sold, chances are she can make another one!