Like any other age-old industry, fashion retailers must innovate or die. Peter Simons, President of the Quebec-born La Maison Simons is growing his concept shop style department stores to infuse fashion, art, and cutting edge technologies to create an experience parallel to no other store before it. “We are really in a moment of thinking about 20, 50 years, different social aspects, energy, communication, all these things are going to impact all business, not just retail. We have to build the company for that time frame.” Peter is the President of La Maison Simons, the home-grown Quebec fashion retailer that’s making bold entrances in major cities across the country. At 175 years, the company is older than Canada itself, and still continues to thrive through innovation and aggressive expansion. In a highly competitive industry, Peter maintains the company’s edge with his sensitivity towards artistic creativity and architecture in store design. With 14 locations, customers can choose from a hybrid of products ranging from apparel to home-goods, all engrained with modern twists of Quebec and Canadian identity. In this week’s #StartupPodcast, host Janice McDonald talks to Peter about his vision for the future, and why it’s essential to engrain social responsibility into all businesses.

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