Ten Fashions loves downtown
For 38 years, Ten Fashions Bridal Boutique has served customers from four different locations in downtown Kelowna.
And the store’s history downtown isn’t over.
“We’re committed downtown people,” said Ten Fashions owner Rosemarie Gottschlag.
“Right now, we’re in what you might call a temporary location here (at the corner of Bernard Avenue and Bertram Street). When this property (the block the Bargain Shop was formerly on) is redeveloped to highrises, Ten Fashions will have a store in the bottom of one of them.”
Ten Fashions recently moved from Towne Centre Mall, which is undergoing renovations, to its current home across the street at 592 Bernard Ave.
“We didn’t even need a moving truck,” said Gottschlag with a laugh.
“We just put the dresses on racks with wheels and rolled them over.”
The move meant a downsizing, however.
The new location has about half the space, so Ten Fashions has become an even more intimate boutique.
A long rack of wedding gowns lines one wall and the floor space has displays of more wedding dresses, graduation dresses, mother-of-the-bride outfits and special-occasion dresses.
With the clothes providing such beauty, the temporary store required very little else to make it business-ready.
“We hung the chandelier and put in the mirrors and chairs for the bridal lounge and we were good to go,” she said.
Gottschlag sold a dress to a woman who was off to meet the Queen, although she declined to say who it was and what the circumstances were.
With the effects of the CanadaU.S. tariff war as yet unknown on wedding, graduation and special occasion dresses, Gottschlag is stocking more tariff-free Canadian brands such as Mikaella, Jolene, Code Vitesse and Lyman.
Ten Fashions is what’s known as a hybrid bridal shop.
It keeps regular store hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, but it also open anytime by appointment.
Most of the scores of wedding dresses it sells range in price from $500 to $3,000, with the average being $1,000 to $1,200.
All can be custom-fitted and ordered in any size and colour choice, usually white or ivory.
Jarrett has been the general manager at the Watermark Beach Resort in Osoyoos for the past decade.
She’s always looking for ways to make the resort successful, which includes staff training, relationship building and collaborations with wineries, restaurants, producers, tour operators and neighbouring hotels.
To help ease the labour shortage at Watermark Beach, and other Okanagan hotels, Jarrett is encouraging students from hospitality schools around the world to come to the Valley to get their mandatory international experience.
Jarrett picked up her award at the B.C. Hotel Association’s recent Hospitality Summit at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Hotel.
Jarrett is past-president of the hotel association and still serves as a director and vice-president of business development.
She’s also past-chair of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association and continues to work with the group to develop a regional culinary tourism strategy.
It’s an exceptional career for a women who started in the industry as a chambermaid and worked her way up to positions in the Fairmont chain with the Hotel Vancouver, the opening team of Chateau Whistler and director of operations at Palliser in Calgary.
She also has her own company, Ingrid Jarrett Management Consulting.