Straight “From The Heart” We Thank The Janisse Sisters For 32 Amazing Years By Joe McParland
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n April 30, 2022, From The Heart, Card, Gift and Wig Boutique, 1356 Ottawa Street closes its doors for a final time. This popular Windsor retail business has been owned and operated for 32 years by my three cousins — Jackie McCreary, Geri Maisonneuve and Paulette Kupnicki — who are all sisters. I sat down with them for an interview in a back room at their shop on International Women’s Day (March 8). Let me now introduce you to them — in case you haven’t already met — and then I will tell you about their business and how it came to be. They are three of five daughters born to my uncle, Vince, and aunt, Doris Janisse (McParland). Their other two daughters are; Sue Simard who lives out in British Columbia, and their much-loved Michelle (Mickie Janisse) who was felled by cancer on April 4, 2006 at the age of 52. Not a day passes by that she isn’t remembered and loved by her partner Lynne Rose and the entire Janisse family. It should also be noted that at age four, cousin Mickie was the first girl I ever kissed; we were true kissing cousins, LOL! Their father Vince was a second generation owner-operator of Janisse Brothers Funeral Home on Ouellette Avenue. The business was passed on to him from his father, George. Vince and Doris also had two sons, Paul and David, who became third generation owner/operators. Hence Janisse “Brothers,” but that name wasn’t quite accurate. Their sister Mickie, also a licensed mortician, played an important part of the family business before moving on to other career opportunities. Janisse Brothers Funeral Home was subsequently sold by the two brothers to Arbor Memorial Inc. and is now known as Janisse Funeral Home. Each of the sisters travelled different career paths when their schooling years were completed. Maisonneuve worked in a bank; McCreary became a Registered Nurse; Kupnicki was a catholic elementary school teacher for years before accepting a position with Centres For Seniors (now renamed to Life After Fifty).
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The Janisse sisters — Jackie, Geri and Paulette — are photographed in March inside From The Heart, Card, Gift and Wig Boutique, as the deadline to the final countdown of the shop’s April closure creeps closer. Photo by Rod Denis.
She then spent 19 years with The City of Windsor Parks & Recreation department, working with the seniors in the region. All three sisters married, had children and raised a family. November 16, 1989 was the official opening of From The Heart, Card, Gift and Wig Boutique. Originally located in the Dorwin Plaza on Dougall Avenue, the business was then called The Wig Wam Boutique. It was owned by Bea Lennon, a good friend of the sisters’ “grandma” Jeanne Janisse who remarried their father Vince, after their mother Doris had died. Lennon had told grandma Jeanne she was going to be selling her business. Grandma Jeanne then told the three sisters, who were quite interested and after some deliberation, the sisters agreed to purchase it. Along with the assistance of their father and grandma Jeanne, the sisters became business partners. “We owe so much to grandma Jeanne,” says Kupnicki. “My sisters and I were deeply saddened to learn of her passing the week this interview was conducted. We are forever grateful for all she did for us.” They renamed the business From The Heart and within a year expanded into a space next door that became available. So, where did the business name come from? McCreary’s first husband Jim McCreary was involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Windsor Essex (refer to: Windsor.BigBrothersBigSisters.ca) and it BIZ X M AG A Z I N E • A P R I L 2 0 2 2
was his “little brother” Jeff who is credited with naming the business. No further explanation is available as to why he chose this name — but it was spot on! They changed quite a bit of the product line and eliminated the Canada Post station that came with the business. The business grew — especially The Wig Boutique, which catered to a growing number of clients suffering hair loss from cancer’s chemotherapy, and other hair loss diseases. Over the years, they have served hundreds and hundreds of women with this much needed service which, at times, represented half of their business. In September 2001, they purchased their own space at 1356 Ottawa Street in a growing business community. And there they have remained, for the past 21 years. So, how do three women with no formal training in business come together and start and sustain their own business? The key word is mentor. You find a reliable and tested mentor who can walk the walk you are about to begin. As Kupnicki recalls: “A friend of mine, Liz Munsterhjelm, had a business called Casa Chavela (which closed in 2021 after 36 years), a fair-trade store on Pelissier Street featuring international products from over 40 countries. Early in our start up she graciously opened her books for us to review and shared with us her learned experiences. She was essential to helping us get off the ground.” Years later the sisters helped establish an entrepreneurial group of female business