While most residents were enjoying the last long weekend of the summer, businesswoman Cher Duckworth-Hajósi was scrambling to prepare her store for its grand re-opening.
From Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, Duckworth-Hajósi and her employees at D. & D. Quality Care spent nearly every waking hour packing up their store on 11 Hochelaga Street and moving every item to the new location at 428 Main Street North. They then worked feverishly to set up everything so they could be ready for customers on Sept. 3.
Free cookies, coffee and tea were offered during the grand re-opening on Sept. 3, while many special offers will continue until the end of September.
“It has been a long weekend,” chuckled Duckworth-Hajósi, who noted she worked from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. those days to have her business ready, which included assistance from friends and family.
“We went from 460 square feet to 4,000 square feet. I don’t know how my store fit in that (other) store. It baffles us,” she added. “It was time to move.”
Duckworth-Hajósi loves the new location since it is more inviting, warmer, bigger and brighter. She pointed out it’s now possible to move more than four feet in any direction. It also allows the business to display most of its products; nearly everything was stacked in the previous location.
One of the first businesses to open at the 428 Main Street North location was Evan’s Florist, followed by the well-known and long-standing Hunter’s Menswear, and then Scrubs. The spot is next door to Quilters Haven.
Duckworth-Hajósi has known for the last eight years it was time to find a bigger building, but the problem was finding a suitable location, she explained. She looked at many places before coming across the location on Main Street, which she thought “felt real and felt right.”
The new location now allows Duckworth-Hajósi to offer a larger variety of products with better prices. At the Hochelaga Street location she could display only three items of something, whereas she now has ample room to display more, which brings down the price. With 60 different vendors on display, the staff at D. & D. Quality Care can track down almost everything to meet customers’ needs.
“I’m really excited. I’m really looking forward to what the future brings,” she continued.
One new product line Duckworth-Hajósi would like to carry focuses on sensory issues, particularly for people with autism spectrum disorder. She pointed out this disorder is being diagnosed more often, while it’s nearly impossible to acquire sensory products anywhere in Canada except for online.
Duckworth-Hajósi started the business in 2003 since she wanted to support people, she explained. She has always attempted to help others and give back to the community.
There are two other businesses in Moose Jaw that also carry scooters, lift chairs and walkers, but none offers other daily living aids similar to D. & D. Quality Cares, Duckworth-Hajósi continued, such as mastectomy products, compression garments, or sport and support braces.
“And excellent customer service,” she said with a smile.
The business also offers pediatric equipment, such as children’s crutches, casting boots, insoles, and wrist and knee braces. Duckworth-Hajósi noted no other store in Moose Jaw offers this type of pediatric equipment. It’s difficult to acquire pediatric gear in Canada, and instead, customers have to pay higher prices online.
D. & D. Quality Care is a family-run business, or a mother-daughter business, Duckworth-Hajósi joked. She runs it with her daughter, Cassie Duckworth, and other employees. That is why the business is called D. & D. Quality Care — Duckworth and Daughter.
