As a child, Nancy Ricard subscribed to removals. And to poverty. From one apartment to another the same discomfort, the same sad walls.
“I found comfort in friends, then I had a sense of being healthy and making those around me happy. I realized the importance of the cocoon that makes the difference in interior harmony,” says the founder of Un armchair pour deux.
Her high quality furniture and accessories shop and the decorations she designs with her interior design team are considered luxury. At first glance, this may seem frivolous. But in Nancy’s career, it has meaning.
She dreams of one day becoming a missionary and that seems at odds with her current world. But it’s all connected, her godfather and godmother said: both are about helping people feel good.
Get out and stay through
At 12, Nancy was already working. She was looking for appointments for reps who were selling Filter Queen vacuums. Her boss thought she was four years older. She dropped out of school and then rented her first apartment before she came of age. At this point, she became a bartender at Dagobert in Grande-Allée, Quebec. And she went back to school to finish high school and then went on to study interior design.
After fitting out the kitchen, she continued to work in a furniture store, where the boss was often absent. It was Nancy who took care of everything, even omissions related to absences. An experience that allowed her to learn and understand that she had all the skills to start her own business.
An armchair for two was opened in the spring of 1999 in the Old Port district of Quebec and gradually gained a good reputation. A few years later, the 950 square meter premises became too small.
In 2016, Nancy Ricard took the risk of opening a store ten times larger on Boulevard Laurier.
Bad luck, the sale of her building in the Old Port failed and the entrepreneur had to support two locations for a few years.
“I could have gone bankrupt. But I went to the bank. I told them we would go through this together, but only one person could save the day: me. I negotiated a payment term. I’ve paid my debts and can breathe a sigh of relief today,” she says.
Photo Stevens LeBlanc
Nancy Ricard enjoys the joy of growing within the company alongside her daughter, Charlie Gaudreau
Nancy now co-owns her company with her daughter Charlie, also a designer.
Together they dream of realizing more commercial projects where creativity can flourish even with tighter budgets.
They also want more projects outside of their city as distance is no longer an issue.
A one-off visit to the places to be created is enough…
“I feel people and it seems like I understand what they need. It’s never happened to me that I was really wrong. Sometimes we modify a project to save money, but basically they like it.”
MUCH
- Entrepreneurship is…? “Believe in a project that aligns with our mission and values, and then go all out and surround yourself with the right team.”
- Who inspires you? “Josée Fiset, co-founder of Première Moisson. For its serenity, its simplicity and its great elegance. There is something very strong and delicate about her at the same time.
- If you could change one thing, what would it be? “Let people be kinder to one another.”
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