Our Story
Our Story - A Family Story
THE BIRTH - 63, Petit-Champlain Street
The adventure begins just before the Tall Ships Parade of 1984.
Paul Drolet (Uncle of Jacques) opens the shop that he will name "The Captain Aboard." The old sign read "The Friends First" and he will only cover the word "The Friends" at the beginning to minimize the costs of changing the old sign (December 15, 1983).
Subsequently, Sivlio Lagacé (another great-uncle of Jacques) will produce the sign that we now know with the captain and the buoy (inspired by an old Armor-Lux logo on a metal cane).
The boutique Le Capitaine D'a Bord is located right next to the boutique Point de Mire (which will become Jourdain), the boutique of his partner Suzanne Jourdain, with the door communicating through the interior (which is still in service).
"Upon the death of Paul (cancer), Jacques Bourbonnière and Suzanne Bélanger will purchase the shop from Suzanne Jourdain (1992)."
On December 15, 1993, David, son of Jacques and Suzanne, will start as a sales advisor. In the following years, their daughter Catherine (deceased) will also start as a sales advisor at the store for several years.
OUTDOOR FIRST
In 1995, with the technological revolutions in the outdoor world (Gore-tex and others), an expansion will take place and thus the Plein Air D'a Bord store will be created and accessible also from inside the Capitaine D'a Bord. At that time, we were one of the largest retailers of the Chlorophylle brand (59 rue du Petit-Champlain).
"With the rise of large retail chains selling a lot of outdoor clothing and fierce competition, a change had to be made. This will be the transformation of the store which will become an expansion of Capitaine D'a Bord."
ONLINE BOUTIQUE - capitainedabord.com
The year 2000 - Our first website was launched and it was even transactional! Many suppliers at the time were hesitant (including Paul & Shark). Therefore, we had to stop online sales for several years...(we were too quick!)
Now everything is fine, don't worry!
MOVING OF JOURDAIN
In 2013, Geneviève Drolet and Suzanne Jourdain decided to leave the premises of the Jourdain store (65 1/2 Petit-Champlain Street). They had opened another location a few years earlier on Buade Street with a larger area.
We then decide to take this space to have more room. Our shop then ends up in 3 spaces and therefore has 3 doors, all accessible from the inside.
THE 4 CHILDREN
Since 2019, David's 4 children have worked part-time at the shop.
40 YEARS OF LIFE!
This year we are celebrating our 40th anniversary!
Come see us and celebrate with us!
David Bourbonnière, Owner
THE PETIT-CHAMPLAIN NEIGHBORHOOD COOPERATIVE
Since its beginnings, Le Capitaine D'a Bord has been part of the Cooperative of the Petit-Champlain District.