Trevor Bacque
Rocky View Publishing
Business is booming for Jennifer Friend as she cashes in on an unusual niche market — high-end fashion for country women.
Friend, who owns land east of Airdrie, is the founder of Mink & Manure and her popular business touts itself as Hollywood fashion meeting the Wild West.
“I live in the country and I don’t necessarily dress the typical farm wife look,” said 35-year-old Friend. “Even though I may have to go out and feed the bulls, I can still do it looking good.”
Her love of fashion helped rocket her into six-figure earnings last year and former business partner Cathryn Hagel said her friend couldn’t be happier.
“She’s doing awesome, she’s having so much fun,” said Hagel.
Friend travels to find eye-catching clothes and accessories that will be suitable for the Mink & Manure crowd. Her most popular selling items are designer jeans which can run customers anywhere from $100 to $300. Originally branded as Triple H Western Wear, Friend and Hagel began promoting their products through home parties, or trunk shows, as they are known in the fashion industry. Hagel had a child shortly after the business launched and later went back to work as a nurse, leaving Friend to her own devices with the company. She changed the name to Mink & Manure and from there “it caught on like wildfire,” according to Friend.
Now, a proper storefront in Strathmore provides Friend with a permanent home for her products and will soon expand into the online world. Her products have become so popular, she is beginning to receive buyout offers from other business people.
“It’s tough for me, because this (business) has been kind of like a baby and I grew it to this point,” said Friend.
She said many people thought Mink & Manure was a multi-level-marketing business, like Tupperware, because of the home-based parties that Friend hosted. When they found out she ran everything, they became very intrigued and the offers began rolling in.
“It’s something that’s very catchy and that’s one of the reasons why people are making offers to purchase the business.”
Her biggest problem these days is not having enough inventory since her clothing and accessories are flying off the shelves.
Friends favourite jeans are the Miss Me style due to the “bling” on the pockets and the IT style since “they fit every woman’s body.”
For Friend, her priorities in life are simple — look after her husband, son and her business — and it is clear she has been successful with all three.
“Just over the last few years, the business has gotten to be unbelievable,” she said.
