The Oakville Awards for Business Excellence are pleased to announce that Barrginton’s will be recognized as Oakville’s Business Icon during the 25th Annual Oakville Awards for Business Excellence. The award will be presented through a virtual program on Facebook at 8pm on Monday, June 22nd.

The Barrington Family has been in the outerwear business since 1850. Originating as furriers, six generations on, Paul Barrington continues the family tradition by offering the finest furs from around the world in addition to designer shearlings, leather, cloth coats and accessories.

Barrington’s is located in a beautiful heritage building on Lakeshore Road and is one of the longest standing retail stores in Downtown Oakville. Growing up Paul would head straight to the store after school to finish homework, run errands and learn the tricks of the fur trade from his father. He learned the importance of customer service, always seeing his father go above and beyond to ensure every customer was satisfied.

Paul took over the store in 1992 and has broadened the product mix adding cloth coats, shearlings, gloves, scarves and handbags in addition to furs and fur repurposing. Paul’s wife Brenda looks after the buying and stays on top of fashion trends. Paul and Brenda travel the world’s fashion markets, from Montreal to New York, Paris to Milan, to bring the most interesting and unique outerwear to the Oakville community. They are also very proud of their private label collection, which is made from imported Italian fabrics, and manufactured in Canada

Barrington’s has developed a strong online presence, with a website offering online shopping and using social media to promote their products. However, Paul believes these are added layers to the business; the in-store customer experience is still their strength and focus. Barrington’s proudly counts third generation customers, as fur coats are passed from generation to generation, at times re-fitted or repurposed into blankets – and yes, even teddy bears.

Paul and Brenda were born and raised in Oakville and love the community. They’ve been in Downtown Oakville for a long time and expect to stay for many years to come.  Iconic!