Simply Chic

Simply Chic, an elegant lingerie store, seduces the customer with rack upon rack of underclothing from Europe and the U.S. There are lacy red bras to make you feel alluring, snug-fitting white training bras that keep breasts in place, and seamless grey T-shirt bras that offer a smooth look. Further back there are silky black and red teddies, bright costume jewellery, and trendy tan handbags.

Owner Henny Varga presides over all this bounty. “Lingerie isn’t about sex. It’s about being a woman,” says Henny, tapping her fuchsia fingernails purposefully on the counter as she makes a point. She is formally attired in a dark blue blazer and black heels.

Henny discovered a penchant for lingerie as a young woman, when she began indulging in high quality bras and robes. She thought about opening up her own business selling women’s wear but, instead, got her first job at a bar in a hotel.  “It was fun, every day different people came in,” she says. But after a few years she resented having to manage young people who didn’t share her strong work ethic. So when a vacancy opened up in a property on the Kingsway, she marshalled her bravado and opened Simply Chic.

The people skills Henny honed in her previous job come in handy at the lingerie store, where she prides herself on her knack for service.  “We small stores care,” she says.