It started with Works of Art Furniture, located at 1118 Broad which opened in 1984 and became well-known for their manufacture of quality solid-wood living and dining room furniture. The company manufactured literally thousands of oak dining room tables many of which are still in use today. In 1994, partners Brian Manz and Terry Simpson decided to change direction and move towards more contemporary accents and furniture. That’s when Urbane came into existence - a contemporary gift, decor and furniture store. Urbane was Regina’s first “cool store”. The lines that they popularized in the local marketplace including Canadian suppliers Amisco and Umbra are still available in the store today. In fact, in 2000 Urbane was awarded Umbra's national "Retail Partner" of the year. This award was based on sales volume of Umbra products made by independent retailers across the country.
For a few years Urbane and Works of Art Furniture operated from 2 separate buildings. Urbane was located at 1118 Broad and Works of Art was at 1170 Broad. In 2001 the EQ3 line was added. Urbane was the first store, outside of EQ3’s home base of Winnipeg, to display and sell the EQ3 product line.
In 2004 the decision was made to scale back to one operating building, the original location of 1118 Broad St. However, EQ3 was proving to be a very popular line and voila, Urban 1 was born. Urban 1, owned by Brian's nephew, Todd Fry, became Regina's EQ3 store and opened in September 2004 at 1325 Broad St. EQ3 is Canada’s premiere modern home furnishing manufacturer specializing in modern design for everyday life with simple, clean, and functional design.
From 2004 until 2011, Urbane and Urban 1 operated as separate stores. Urban 1 focused more on furniture and Urbane more on gift and decor items. In 2011, mainly because Brian was so darn old, Urbane permanently closed the location at 1118 Broad. The lines that Urbane had were added to the EQ3 collection at 1325 Broad. The operating name was changed to Urbane EQ3"the best of both stores under one roof"
Urbane EQ3 continues to strive to be Regina’s destination for modern and unique, yet affordable home furnishings and accents. Most of the brands in the store are exclusive to Urbane EQ3 and they continue to search for new products that offer something different for Regina’s shoppers.
