With little knowledge of the fashion industry, husband and wife team, River and Serena, took a chance and started their own importing business back in 1973. Importing clothes turned out to be a much tougher job than expected, and after 1 year of chasing after shop owners for payment, they decided they’d had enough. Rather than quitting the fashion business all together, they decided to give it one more try and opened up a retail store.

In 1975, the first Serena Fashions store opened on Pender Street in downtown Vancouver. In 1981, they joined up with Serena’s sister, Viviana, and expanded to Alberta. Over the years, Serena Fashions has grown from one store with 4 staff members to 22 stores throughout BC and Alberta, with over 200 employees.