۱۰ فروردین ۱۴۰۳ |۱۹ رمضان ۱۴۴۵ | Mar 29, 2024
New clothing store catering to Muslim women responds to need in Saint John

When Hebatalla Mohamed moved to Saint John a little less than a year ago from Saudi Arabia she noticed a problem .

Hawzah News Agency - (New Brunswick - Canada) - Women's Zone sells scarves, coats and dresses that women might normally have to buy online.

When Hebatalla Mohamed moved to Saint John a little less than a year ago from Saudi Arabia she noticed a problem — options were limited for Muslim women looking to buy clothes.

"As Arabian women, we face a lot of problems and the biggest one is our style," she said. "We find it difficult to get our style here … that's why we were thinking of opening this store."

Mohamed, along with her business partner Lamis Hijazi, opened their store Women's Zone on Tuesday. A clothing store that caters specifically to Muslim women, it's the first of its kind in Saint John.

Before the store opened, women would get their clothes through online retailers. Mohamed said the shipping for the clothes could be costly and often it was hard to predict the quality.

Mohamed moved to Canada about 10 months ago to give her children a better future. She had travelled to Dubai for a session on immigration to Canada and saw a video about Saint John.

Once in Canada, she attended the business mentorship program at the Hive Saint John, which is where she met Hijazi. The program is geared toward helping newcomers gain the tools necessary to succeed professionally in Canada.

Matt George, who works for the Hive Saint John, said after Mohamed and Hijazi completed a training program in January he took them on one-on-one as an adviser.

His role was to help them navigate the requirements for starting a business in Canada. He said they received funding through the Impact Loan Program at the Hive to start the store.

When the two partners met, Hijazi abayhad already been in talks with her brother in Turkey about having him supply clothes for a business in Canada. She said he gave her the idea to open up a store because she, like Mohamed, had noticed it was difficult to find clothes.

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