Ursula Wegen and her daughter loved spending time together browsing through trendy boutiques on Sunday afternoons in Vancouver or while vacationing in Europe. So when they were deciding on a business venture it seemed like a clothing store just made sense. “There weren’t a lot of eclectic boutiques in Calgary where you could just wander around,” says Ursula. Her daughter, a teenager at the time, was into a little-known Californian clothing line called Emily The Strange. After a few calls, Ursula opened Under The Bridge Fashions in 2003 and began carrying hoodies and t-shirts from the unique fashion line. “We then added a few junior lines from California," she recalls. "We grew from there into a totally eclectic store.”
Her daughter is now an adult and has become an integral part of this family business. “She has talents I don’t. She’s the creative one and the idea person and I’m the bookkeeper who keeps things organized," says Ursula. The two share a love of dealing with people and fashion. “It works well because we cover for each other. We have the same game plan,” says Ursula. “We share the ability to make things grow from where we were to where we are now to what we hope to achieve. It’s like a lifetime project.”