New System Store has deep roots

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This article was published 28/11/2019 (2260 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Though it has not always been in its current location, Brandon’s New System Store has deep roots in the community.

Neil Cristall, the third-generation owner, isn’t sure when his grandfather started the business that would develop over time into its current state — he believes it was sometime between 1907 and 1912.

The shelves and racks inside are filled with work clothes and boots, predominantly aimed at men.

Though at one point one of his grandfather’s businesses closed for a couple of years, New System Store survived the Great Depression and many of the most dramatic events of the 20th and 21st centuries.

“(My grandfather) went broke a couple times, I’m told,” Cristall said.

As Cristall’s family has run the store for generations, some families have also been shopping at the store for generations.

“I had a customer a couple of years ago that was a fifth-generation customer,” Cristall said. “It feels great. It feels like we’re doing more, like we’re part of the community. It feels good to do good.”

The shelves may carry modern products, but the attitudes and policies of the business come from decades ago, when Cristall’s father, uncle and grandfather were in charge of the store.

“I’ve been told by a few people we’re the longest-existing family business in Brandon,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s true, but I can’t think of anyone that’s been (around) longer that’s within the same family.”

Cristall himself has worked at the store for more than three decades.

A significant portion of the store’s customers come from outside of Brandon — 35 to 40 per cent of their entire customer base. Because of that, they offer a return policy with no set time limit.

If a product is still in the condition in which it was purchased, it is eligible for return. That way, someone shopping in Brandon from elsewhere in Westman can pick up a pair of boots for their spouse to try and return them if they don’t fit on their next trip to the city.

This has meant that Cristall has processed returns on purchases made as long ago as three years. When that happened, he said he gave the customer a bit of a hard time but still honoured the policy as the boots were still in good condition.

A big change Cristall has noticed during his time at the store is the origin of the products he sells.

Back in the day, there were more products made in Canada. Now, the majority comes from elsewhere in the world. He struggles to hit a target of having 20 per cent of products being Canadian in origin, but he does try.

Even though there are other, bigger retailers in Brandon that sell the same kind of products, Cristall believes there are advantages to buying at a local business like his.

For one, you get access to decades of experience provided by the staff. Cristall has been at the store for decades, but he also has employees who have worked there for approximately 20, 10 and five years respectively.

“Almost all of my staff is full-time,” Cristall said. “So we’re able to train them and let them understand the product, which allows people to get what they’re actually looking for because even with research, they sort of know what they want, but they don’t totally know what they want.

“I believe I’m fortunate. I have some of the best employees in Brandon in retail.”

He also said that he keeps the store’s prices competitive with its rivals in the industry and checks in on their prices to keep current on the market.

“If you looked at all of my product and compared it to similar stores that have the same product, our prices would be the same or better at regular price on most of the goods.”

While some retailers have found it tough to compete with cutthroat online retailers, Cristall said they are not a massive concern to his business because it is tough to buy clothes and boots online since you can’t try them on before ordering.

For his part, Cristall tries to make sure that when he’s doing shopping for himself, that he does it at locally owned, independent businesses.

“I consider a business from Minnedosa or Souris or Virden local,” he said. “I have no problem thinking that shopping in Minnedosa is local.”

Looking back, Cristall is grateful for his family’s legacy with the store.

“I feel pride and I feel lucky,” he said. “I mean, these policies I’m talking about weren’t implemented by me — they’ve been around for generations. I’ve just been lucky enough not to change them.”

 

» cslark@brandonsun.com

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