A quarter of a century of serving the community is no small feat for a locally owned business.

For Janzen's Paint & Decorating, it's the sum of three generations.

"We started off as a very simple Benjamin Moore Paint store and had 1,500 sq. ft of space," owner Doug Janzen says. "I started off as the only employee for the first year, and so we slowly grew from there."

After his father's business, Janzen's Hobby Store, closed in 1985 Doug bought as many of the toys as possible. Over the years he continued collecting and people began inquiring about his stock come Christmas time.

When people began to come by his house to buy items, the logical step was to move it to his store.

The business quickly began delving into hobbies including RC's, games, Lego and toy models.

Since opening in Winkler in 1992 the business has expanded to Steinbach (1999) and Brandon (2001).

"The future looks bright," says Janzen. "There's a young generation coming in, my son's in here, so Mark is really here to carry the torch. I'm not ready to step back just yet, but things are changing a lot in the industry. Mark and his team are real aggressive at learning new technologies and the next generation of paint."

Doug's son Mark explains why 25 years is so important to a family-run business.

"It's a long time to be in business and creating customer relations for that long. To be able to celebrate it with people who have supported the business for this long means a lot to us. We wouldn't be here without the great customers we have around here."

Currently, the Winkler location is in its 5th expansion, set for a grand re-opening in the fall.