Villages Calgary is closing its retail operation after more than 40 years in Calgary, ending a longstanding storefront presence that the non-profit used to connect local shoppers with fair-trade products from artisans around the world.
“The Store Is Closing. The Fair Trade Mission Continues,” the organization said on its website, where it is directing customers to other fair-trade retailers and providing information about existing gift cards and how to contact its team during the transition.
The closure marks a change for the organization, which has purchased more than $13 million worth of goods directly from artisans since 1984, supporting more than 98 artisan groups through customer purchases, according to the website.
Villages Calgary said its history was shaped by volunteers, employees, community supporters, artisan partners, producer groups and shoppers in Calgary and across Canada.
Relocation plans preceded closure announcement
The closure follows years of challenges at the retailer’s longtime location near Kensington, where it operated from the same building beginning in 1984. The organization had been preparing to relocate its store as the City of Calgary considered expanding nearby Crowchild Trail.
In September 2025, Alex Ferguson, chair of the Villages Calgary board, said the organization had been discussing a move for several years because of the proposed road expansion.
“We’ve been talking about a move for quite a while—even before my time,” said Ferguson, who had served as board chair for just over a year at the time. “They’re talking about expanding what I call the ‘super highway’ right at our doorstep.”
The organization was also contending with customer access challenges. A survey conducted in 2019-2020 identified traffic access as a significant concern, Ferguson said, with the road configuration making it difficult for some motorists to reach the store.
“Getting on and off that highway is always a bit of a challenge. If you’re heading south on Crowchild, you can’t turn left—you have to go all the way around,” he said. “Our kind of store needs foot traffic.”
At the time, Villages Calgary was looking for a new location, with its leadership team and commercial realtors exploring potential sites, including one in Inglewood.
Inglewood move aimed to reverse declining traffic
By July 2026, the organization had identified a new home in Inglewood and sold its longtime property along Crowchild Trail in northwest Calgary for $1.1 million. The sale was to a coffee roaster.
The relocation was intended to address declining revenue and customer visits while positioning the retailer to reach a different demographic. The organization had planned to open a 1,333-square-foot store on Inglewood’s main street in mid-September, reducing its retail footprint by roughly half.
Linnea Ferguson, a volunteer on the organization’s marketing committee and a former assistant manager, said the smaller space would require changes to the product mix and a greater role for online sales.
“We have to re-merchandise,” said Ferguson. “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.”
She said the new store was intended to provide a more coordinated shopping environment.
“For this space, we want it to be cohesive and balanced and not make the space appear cluttered,” she said.
The move followed customer, volunteer and member surveys that identified accessibility, walkability and convenience for volunteers as priorities. The proposed Inglewood location offered a single-level layout, pedestrian traffic and parking.
However, declining revenue and store visits remained significant concerns. Ferguson said customer traffic had fallen over several years, with a particularly sharp reduction after roadway changes affected access to the existing location.
“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 noticed a substantial drop in visits after the road changes.
“We saw a steep decline when that happened,” she said.
Ferguson said the effects were particularly challenging for a retailer that depended on shoppers browsing its products.
“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 store required a new approach
The move to Inglewood was also expected to change the organization’s customer base and require renewed efforts to communicate its mission in a new neighbourhood.
“I think we’re going to have more people in a younger age bracket,” Ferguson said.
The organization anticipated that it would need to introduce itself to shoppers less familiar with its history and purpose.
“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.”
Events, advertising and marketing were expected to help build awareness in the new neighbourhood.
The retail operation’s closure means the planned move will not result in a continuing storefront presence, according to the organization’s latest website announcement. The website does not provide a reason for the closure or specify a date when the retail operation will end.
Fair-trade mission dates to 1984
Villages Calgary’s work centred on providing a market for products made by artisans in countries including Rwanda and Vietnam. In earlier interviews, the organization said roughly 80 per cent of its store inventory was certified fair trade.
“These are products that are certified to be providing benefits to local artisans and communities in some of these countries that don’t have another market for their products,” Alex Ferguson said in 2025.
The organization originally operated independently before coming under the umbrella of the Mennonite Central Committee, which provided administrative services such as human resources policies and payroll. After the committee closed its own brick-and-mortar stores before the COVID-19 pandemic, society-owned outlets such as Villages Calgary could decide whether to continue operating independently.
Alex Ferguson said collaboration with similar stores had helped independent retailers remain viable.
“I think most of the independent ones stayed viable,” he said. “We’ve survived the last five to seven years probably more by collaborating with our sister stores.”
Store managers across the country held monthly calls to exchange information and support one another, he said.
“The whole imperative is to maintain a market for products that come in from countries where we’re supporting local artisans and communities,” he said. “It’s probably a labour of love more than anything else.”
In announcing the closure, Villages Calgary thanked the people who supported the organization over more than four decades. The website said its purchases had provided economic benefits to artisans, their families and their communities, while acknowledging the contributions of its Calgary community and supporters across Canada.
The organization is directing customers seeking alternative fair-trade retailers, gift-card support or contact information to its website as it winds down the retail operation.
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