Manitobah, the Indigenous-rooted retail brand known for its mukluks, has opened a permanent store in Saskatoon’s Midtown mall after what the company describes as strong community support and sales at previous temporary locations.
Kerry Vos, senior director of retail and wholesale, confirmed the new shop measures just under 1,700 square feet.
Vos said the decision to establish a full-time presence at Midtown followed successful seasonal stores in the centre, including a year-long temporary location in 2024.
“We just had such a wonderful reaction from the community and such strong sales there that it made sense to do a permanent location,” she said.
As the company enters the winter season, Manitobah now operates seven stores.
“Five are pop ups,” Vos said, noting that only the new Saskatoon location and the permanent store at The Forks in Winnipeg operate year-round.
This year’s pop-up shops are in Kingsway Mall in Edmonton, Prairie Mall in Grande Prairie, Southcentre Mall in Calgary, Cornwall Centre in Regina, and Intercity Mall in Thunder Bay.
Vos said the Kingsway location was initially intended to become permanent but the company “decided against that one.”
Vos said Manitobah’s reliance on temporary shops aligns with the brand’s seasonal demand patterns.
“Manitobah is historically known for our winter footwear brand,” she said.
While the company has expanded into summer footwear in recent years, “we still predominantly are a winter brand, and so doing that pop up model is still beneficial… to get there in the peak season of snow.”
When choosing new pop-up markets, Vos said the company looks at a combination of past performance and online demand.
“Some of it is historical, where we had success in a previous time frame,” she said. “We look at also our e-comm business in a specific geographical region as well, and where we need to be.”
While Manitobah operated 14 pop-ups last year, Vos said the company opted for a smaller footprint this season due to its investment in the permanent Saskatoon shop.
She added that future permanent locations remain a possibility.
“We’re not closed off to growth,” she said, noting the company’s strategy centres on its “three pillars” of e-commerce, retail and wholesale.
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