Sadru Peerani used to sell cowboy hats for his dad during Stampede Week when he was a teenager in the early 1980s. Now he’s managing his family-run business, Formans Fashion Group, selling high-end clothing to Calgary’s well heeled. In 2003, Formans bought the CIBC heritage building on First Street and uprooted the 46-year-old business to Victoria Crossing. One of the first upscale retailers to move to the now uber-trendy neighbourhood, the store invigorated the street’s retail mix. Last year the company and its clients donated coats to those less fortunate in the area, proving that while fashion may come and go, corporate responsibility is never out of style.
By Tracy Hyatt
AV: Why did your family go into the retail business?
SP: We’re an entrepreneurial family. Before coming to Canada in the ’70s, we lived in East Africa and my father and grandfather had a farm down there, a bakery and a car dealership. But as the Idi Amin crisis spread across East Africa, we had to leave everything behind, fleeing with our lives and family.
Ismailimail 