Cyril and Pamela Bulgin
In 1974, as university students with a small child, Cyril and Pamela Bulgin opened their first clothing store, The Jean Shop, in Twillingate occupying a 200-square-foot space. In 1979, they decided to expand and opened in Gander and Lewisporte and the chain grew across Newfoundland.
In 1982, the first Eclipse store was opened in St. John's. Eventually, all of the stores were re-branded as Eclipse and the company become Eclipse Stores Inc. Eclipse currently has 76 women's clothing stores in all 10 provinces of Canada. Cyril and Pamela's strategy is to focus on mid-sized city markets. The headquarters for Eclipse is located in St. John's employing about 30 employees and, additionally, between 500 and 600 full-time and part-time employees are employed nationally. Their daughters, Genevieve and Tara, are actively involved in the business.
In 1995, they launched Tattoo, a private label clothing brand and today offer clothing in both the Eclipse and Tattoo brands. In 2013, Eclipse started its first e-commerce website.
Cyril and Pamela are very hands-on in product development and oversee all aspects of the business. They quietly support many charities and devote much of their free time to their families and their love of running.
This husband and wife team are, indeed, worthy inductees into the Junior Achievement Newfoundland and Labrador Business Hall of Fame.