About us

Chaussures Leclerc's history

The late 1940's: Working as a bus driver, Georges Leclerc would follow his daily route between his native village of Saint-AUgustin-de-Desmaures and Quebec City. This route would keep him busy in the morning and evenings, but would leave him with plenty of free time during the afternoon. As a way to keep busy, he decided to start working at a shoe store on Saint-Joseph street, in downtown Quebec City. His newfound interest in shoes quickly took hold, and he rapidly rose to become the manager of the store and even began to purchase the shoes for the store.

However, an opportunity soon presented itself - the owner of the bus company offered to sell him the business. After mentioning his intent to accept this offer to the shoe store's owner, he was given a second choice: to purchase the shoe store instead. History may neglect to tell us if the decision was a difficult one, but the shoe store ultimately won out. Now his own boss, Georges Leclerc decided to open a new store on Quebec's Saint-Vallier street. A second store soon opened on the intersection of the Saint-Joseph and Dorchester streets, all while his family grew to eventually reach nine children. This was followed by two more stores, one in 1958 and another in 1960, to bring the total up to four.

Disaster struck in 1963, with George passing away in March 1964. With his oldest son being twenty years old and his youngest being only four, his widow, Emilienne Petitclerc, took over the company with the help of a relative and her daughter, Diane. They would gradually be helped by all of George's children, with each one taking their own responsibilities in keeping the busines running.

In 1970, Claude joined the business following his studies in accounting. He quickly rose to become president of the company in 1976, a full three decades after his father first gained ownership. In the following years, the stores would move to better locations, undergo major renovations, and revamp their styling.

The 1980's would have the youngest child, André, join the team. Soon afterwards, the company began to operate a Rieker Antistress store in the Laurier Quebec shopping center, focusing on combining style and comfort in the most practical ways. Later, in 2001, a new boutique would open in Place de la Cité: Moi Mes Souliers. Anxious to offer a wide variety of unique styles imported from Europe, this new store would get its name from Felix Leclerc's famous song.

A second Moi Mes Souliers would open at the Promenades Beauport in 2008, followed by a third in July of 2013 on St-Jean street. Since then, always on the hunt for new and unique brands, members of the family attend numerous shoe fairs around the world in the hopes of discovering exclusive brands for the company. In 2021, two more stores opened, this time out of the Québec City area: in Trois-Rivières and Saguenay.

And now, a third generation of Leclerc's have joined the company: Annie, the daughter of Claude, is the administrative head, while Vincent is in charge of operations. The family-owned business continues, more than seventy years after its founding, to grow and follow the trends of the market just as its initial founder, Georges, used to.

Chaussures Leclerc today operate a total of 13 stores: 4 Chaussures Leclerc (at Laurier Quebec, Place Fleur de Lys, the Galeries de la Capitale, and on Cartier street), as well as five Boutiques Moi Mes Souliers (at Place de la Cité, Promenades Beauport and St-Jean Street, in Trois-Rivières and in Chicoutimi) and 4 Rieker shops: at Laurier Quebec, Promenades Beauport, Galeries de la Capitale and on St-Jean street.