point ran the store alongside his father and
grandfather, Anderson has accumulated
44 years of experience under his belt. Con-
sequently, he’s sailed through the volatile
waves of the business like an expert sea-
man.
“I’ve ridden the highs and the lows. We’ve
seen the crazy times when the streets
were paved with gold and we’ve also seen
the times when the offices looked strange-
ly empty,” Anderson said.
The store itself has endured for far longer
that its present owner. It survived through
the Great Depression, a time when people
paid for a watch repair with chicken and
vegetables. Though the present time is in-
comparable to the hardships of the 1930s,
the modern era is not devoid of problems.
“If it was easy, there would be more peo-
ple doing it,” Anderson said. “It’s challeng-
ing times. If you’re up for the challenge,
then you’re going to be successful.”
The present challenge is the increasing
tendency of consumers to shop online.
Finding new clientele can sometimes be
difficult even though J. Vair has now been
serving four generations of Calgarians. Of-
tentimes, current clients are the descen-
dants of those who purchased jewellery
from the previous hands that ran the store.
“It’s a brave new world,” Anderson said in
reference to the downpour of social me-
dia. Having a hand in that type of media
and interacting with it while utilizing it for
business is a challenge and a focus for An-
derson.
Sometimes location can be a cause for
woe. Despite the many advantages of op-
erating in Calgary, the recent downfalls in
oil prices have served as a reminder to An-
derson that luxury goods are a tap that can
be turned off very quickly when the going
gets tough.
“We’re in Calgary, the hub and heart of the
oil business, and right now that business
is reeling a little and there’s a lot of down-
turned faces,” Anderson said.
But according to Anderson, Calgary is very
resilient. People possess an entrepreneur-
ial spirit —“they dust themselves off, they
104 business elite canada
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MAY 2016
