Urban

Edmonton was stuck in a recession in the early '80s. The oil boom had sputtered out and interest rates were soaring. You wouldn’t think it was a great time to start a new business, but Dwayne Pasieka and his brother knew they had what it took to make it work. In 1983 they opened Urban, a men’s clothing store, in what was then called Edmonton Centre mall. “We started right when there was a recession. We had something unique and something different to offer the men of Edmonton,” says Dwayne. “So we started a business, and just went for it and had a lot of passion for fashion.”

They knew they had something special when the opening day they sold out of stock in just a few hours. They also became popular with some of the Edmonton Oilers during the Stanley Cup years.

To this day, Urban remains a family-run business. “We have some very talented people in our family. My brother, my wife, my daughter and nephew," says Dwayne. "I’m very proud of all of us that we’ve made it so successful.”