This Holiday shopping season, we turn our focus on the specialty stores in Calgary, the really unique shops that provide a one-of-a-kind shopping experience, where you can find treasures that will be treasured, where there is a sense of community to go with the Holiday spirit.

Besides, what else spreads Holiday cheer more than seeing the whole community decked out in Christmas decor? Especially attractive are the brick front buildings along the Kensington, Inglewood and Uptown 17th Avenue areas, which really make for a festive scene.

But aside from the small town atmosphere, it’s in these stores that you will find that special something you know will mean more to those on your gift list.

“If you’re looking for special gifts for your family and friends, the chances you will find it in a big box store are far slimmer than when you go to look for these in one-of-a-kind stores,” says Dick Chute of Castle Toys. “All it takes is a little bit of effort (to search out these stores), sure big box stores offer convenience but when you’re looking for something all together special you won’t find it there.”

Christmas shopping is also the one time of the year most of these shops do get a helpful boost in profits, and shopping here goes to supporting and maintaining the look, feel and character of each community throughout the year. “We do good business year-round because we have created our own niche market,” says Edward Cavell of the Livingstone & Cavell Toy Store in Kensington.

Castle of dreams
Castle Toys is a true Calgary original, for 26 years this most distinguished and original of the city’s toy stores has been serving up dreams for children with their wide selection of interactive toys.

Dick Chute and his wife, Joanne, were teachers before they found their true passion in running a toy store and it is this unique educational background that has made Castle Toys stand out. “We were the first to bring European toys to Calgary, because we recognized their great value in teaching kids as they play,” Dick says.

Their range includes such innovative toys as Playmobil, Breyer, Thomas the Tank Engine, Schleich, and Brio. Board games, storybooks, puppets and marionettes are part of their line as well.

“We specialize in toys that allow interaction in the family, toys are a child’s tools,” Joanne says. “The way we look at it, a child’s toys are as important as a scalpel to a doctor, or a hammer to a carpenter. Toys are important to their growth.”

Castle Toys does good business as a retailer, but they are much more than that. They supply Christmas gift bags to corporate clients who either distribute them at their Christmas parties, or have them mailed out to their employees’ kids. The bags themselves are hand-sewn in-house for that extra personal touch.

The store hits its peak season in November when it starts packaging toys for these gift bags that turns the whole 3,000-square-foot shop into a veritable southern branch of Santa’s workshop.

“This year we are filling in excess of 18,000 orders, and it is a very labour intensive effort, because Santa cannot make a mistake you can’t give a girl toy to a boy,” says Dick. “Our corporate gift bags are really personalized,” Joanne says, and it is this dedication to customer service that has made Castle Toys a cut above the rest.

Toy store as museum
If you’ve ever wondered what a museum for toys will look like, wonder no more. Livingstone & Cavell in the heart of Kensington has that unique curatorial feel to it, the only difference is that you can touch and play with these toys even right in the store.

Even on ordinary weekdays, the pealing laughter of children fills the 1,500-square-foot store in one of Calgary’s trendiest shopping areas. Filled with vintage-looking toys like tin robots, rag dolls and toy trains, Livingstone & Cavell specializes in those unique, hard-to-find toys, reminiscent of a bygone era.

Founded by Edward Cavell and his wife, Donna Livingstone, the nostalgia-based store unabashedly targets the adult — or more appropriately, the child in every adult. “My wife and I have curatorial backgrounds and it is these kinds of toys that appeal to the collector, the stuff that catches their eye, that we specialize in,” Edward says.

“We’re the favourite store of grandparents, because they recognize toys they had when they were kids and want to share these with their grandchildren,” he adds.

Things from another dimension
Walking through the doors of Another Dimension comic book shop is like going through a portal to another world. It’s a comic book shop like no other in Calgary — no overflowing shelves in a cramped, basement-like room. It has a wide-open, 3,500 square-feet of space where you can browse through their extensive collection of comic books graphic novels, toys and collectibles at leisure.

They carry comic books from all major publishers, and stock a lot of out-of-print issues as well. Their selection of statues and action figures based on comic book superheroes and pop culture in general is the biggest in Calgary, and includes get-them-while-you-can items from the popular Sideshow Collectibles line — many of which you can’t even find on-line.

“I come here because the staff are friendly and knowledgeable and the store always seems to have the issues no one else in town has,” says university student, Dan Smith.

In the groove
The future doesn’t look bright for record stores, after all how can you compete with free music downloads. But Calgary still has a wealth of these iconic, independent music shops which some say may be throwbacks of a bygone era. Sloth Records is one such example, preferring to stick to its guns and provide a unique service to its clients.

They have just moved into their new, second floor location on 736 17th Avenue S.W. next to Melrose Café and Bar, and the new shop has definitely boosted traffic. Sloth carries a variety of hard-to-find independent and underground vinyl, CDs, DVDs. They also have clothing, books, magazines, and DJ gear including turntables. But the best-seller by far is their extensive selection of vinyl LPs that cover everything from punk, rock, hip hop, metal, emo, rap, jazz funk, reggae, soul, and ska, just don’t look for Britney Spears records here.

Owner, David Muir, says the record store is really a “labour of love” as there really is not much profit in it, but Sloth still offers something the Internet never can — a sense of belonging, a chance to mingle in person with someone who has the same tastes in music. It is very much a cultural watering hole.

He adds that Sloth also supports events and shows at some of the best local venues and holds occasional in-store shows as well.

Trains, planes and automobiles
Everyone in town knows, when you need radio-controlled toys, there is only one place to go: PM Hobbycraft. But it is much more than that, in fact, it is a store for every kind of hobby under the sun, from quilting, to scrap booking, to cake decorating, PM Hobbycraft carries supplies for these and more.

PM stocks more than 70,000 products in its 13,000-square-foot facility in northeast Calgary and is renowned for its model-building kits: anything from train sets, all sorts of RC vehicles, and die-cast collectibles, this is the place to go.

“We like to think we provide a service,” says PM Hobbycraft’s Doug Pepperdine. “When people tell hobbyists to ‘get a life’ there really is not a more colourful, imaginative and interactive life you can have than with these products.”

So for an extra joyful Christmas, check out these uniquely Calgary stores and experience the wonder and spirit of the Season.