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According to Wanda Brilz, Icon’s chief financial officer, the hardest part wasn’t creating new items or retooling the factory — it was sourcing the elastic for the masks.
“We had one shipment that was a king’s ransom because it had to be airfreighted in,” Brilz notes with a laugh.
Icon was one of the first PPE suppliers listed on the SaskBuilds website at the beginning of the pandemic and it didn’t take long for orders to start rolling in.
Now, the company is producing not only masks, but also booties, caps and gowns that are available for purchase individually online or in the Broadway Avenue shop. If you’re looking for more than a few items, the team can accommodate bulk orders — either plain, or branded with a company logo.
Because the masks are reusable, they are also more environmentally sustainable and, in the long run, cheaper than their disposable counterparts.
Though Icon Shoes has been in business for over 20 years — in started out in California before being purchased and moved to Saskatoon in 2018 — Brilz said not many people in Saskatoon know about the company.
Icon was brought to the Bridge City with the idea of being a “socially capitalistic company,” Bogren said. Its goal is to help give purpose to people who are struggling.
One way they do this is by providing employment to people who are struggling with mental health and addictions issues or who have previously been incarcerated, but are now looking to turn things around.
