Peter Simons - A Provincial Company Goes National

Breaking ground on their new state-of-the-art distribution facility, Peter Simons sits down with Dolce to discuss the growth of this iconic company and what is still to come.

- Cece M. Scott

In the high-paced forum of big-box retailing, massive bling and homogenized fashion, Simons (La Maison Simons in Quebec) is a singular stand-alone retailer. Founded in Quebec City in 1840, Simons is Canada’s oldest privately owned family department store, and it’s run by fifth generation Simons. Peter Simons, president of Simons, and his brother Richard, vice-president of merchandising, co-own the company together.

At a time when large retailers such as Sears and Target have vacated the Canadian marketplace, Simons, a mid- to high-end fashion and home décor retailer with 3,000 plus employees and offices in Paris, Florence, Italy, Korea and the Far East, averages $500 million plus in annual sales. And while Peter calls the family firm a small Canadian retailer, over the past several years Simons has expanded its Quebec base of nine stores to include two stores in Ontario, (Mississauga and Ottawa), three stores in Alberta and one in British Columbia.