After more than four decades at the same location, Villages Calgary is relocating its retail operation to Inglewood after selling its longtime property, along Crowchild Trail northwest Calgary for $1.1 million, a move driven by declining revenues, falling customer traffic and a strategy aimed at reaching new shoppers.
The non-profit society will provide vacant possession of its existing building on Sept. 30 after the sale to a coffee roaster, while targeting a mid-September opening for its new 1,333-square-foot store on the main street in Inglewood. The organization said the sale closes a chapter that began with its occupancy of the building in 1984 and ownership since 2015.
The relocation represents a significant operational shift for the retailer, which is reducing its physical footprint by roughly half while redesigning its merchandising strategy and relying more heavily on online sales to complement the smaller storefront.
“We have to re-merchandise,” said Linnea Ferguson, a volunteer on The Villages’ marketing committee and a former assistant manager.
“We’re going to be focusing in-store on product that is appealing to this new demographic. That’s why we’ve hired a designer, because we have to be able to fit into that smaller space. But we do have a web store, so we’ll be able to continue selling other items online.”
Ferguson said the organization wants the new location to present a more curated shopping experience.
“For this space, we want it to be cohesive and balanced and not make the space appear cluttered,” she said.
Kevin McCann, Broker/Owner at Retail Leasing Services Inc., helped Villages find its new space.
Accessibility and customer access drive relocation
The decision to relocate followed several years of surveys involving customers, volunteers and members that identified shortcomings at the existing site.
Ferguson said respondents consistently pointed to accessibility, walkability and volunteer convenience as priorities.
“As you may know, we did a number of surveys of our customers, volunteers, and members over the last few years, because we’re a non-profit society,” she said.
“They identified three key things they felt we were missing in terms of our store. One was accessibility. One was walkability. And the other one was ease for volunteers.”
The new location, she said, addresses those concerns by offering a single-level layout, pedestrian traffic and parking.
The move also reflects changing retail dynamics for the organization.
Ferguson said customer visits and revenue have been trending downward for several years, with traffic worsening after road changes along Crowchild Trail.
“I think that’s the big incentive for moving,” she said. “Revenues have been declining, and our number of customer visits to the store has been declining for quite a long time.”
She said the organization observed a significant reduction in customer traffic following roadway upgrades that altered vehicle access to the area.
“We saw a steep decline when that happened,” she said.
Ferguson said destination businesses nearby appeared less affected by the traffic changes than a gift retailer dependent on browsing customers.
“When you’re in the gift shop business like we are, without that walking traffic, I think we’re sacrificing quite a bit,” she said.
Smaller footprint brings merchandising changes
The reduced retail space will require significant operational adjustments as the organization determines which products remain in-store and which shift primarily to online sales.
Ferguson said the move is also expected to change the customer base.
“I think we’re going to have more people in a younger age bracket,” she said.
The organization expects that demographic shift to influence merchandising decisions while requiring renewed efforts to build awareness of its mission.
“We are going to have to retell our story, because over the years we’ve built up quite a following of people who understand our mission in the northwest and the west side of Calgary,” she said. “They may not be as familiar here.”
She added that events, advertising and marketing will play an important role in introducing the organization to customers in its new neighbourhood.
Property sale marks end of long chapter
The sale of the existing building concludes a lengthy association with the property that stretches back more than four decades.
Ferguson said founder Erna Clippenstein initially operated the organization by selling self-help crafts from church to church before eventually establishing space inside a building owned with her husband.
Villages originally occupied only part of the main floor before gradually expanding throughout the property as other businesses closed and Clippenstein retired.
The organization later invested in maintaining the building, including repainting it in 2023 and completing other upgrades over the years.
Founded as a fair-trade certified retail outlet, Villages Calgary offers products from countries including Rwanda and Vietnam. Roughly 80 per cent of the store’s inventory is certified fair trade.
Originally independent, Villages Calgary later operated under the umbrella of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), which provided administrative support including HR policies and payroll. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MCC shuttered all of its own brick-and-mortar stores, allowing society-owned outlets like Villages Calgary to decide whether to continue independently.
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