Little Burgundy is an Aldo subsidiary that has opened its first store in Western Canada in Calgary’s own Market Mall!
The catchphrase I kept hearing with regards to Little Burgundy is that Calgary has nothing like it.
Honestly, I’m a little tempted to beg to differ. They carry a lot of the same brands as Gravity Pope and some of the shoes stores in Market Mall itself. I mean, I must have seen the black/aqua/orange Reebok Top Downs in at least 3 other stores just trying to find Little Burgundy.
But as the saying goes, the devil is in the details (the devil that makes me love shoes! Oh dear).
While they may carry such popular brands as Reebok, Adidas and Creative Recreation, the buyers aim to bring in the models and colorways that no one else has. I was also very pleased to see that they carry more women’s Onitsuka Tigers than anyone else in this city, as well as some smaller Canadian and UK brands, like Nanny State.
What’s also pleasantly shocking is that Little Burgundy’s staff are really knowledgeable and nowhere near as pretentious as you think they would be (what with Aldo being a parent figure).
Not only do the salespeople themselves have good fashion sense (did you know cobalt is going to be hot this winter?), but they are down-to-earth and friendly to boot (pun intended).
Bonus points for carrying Reebok’s brand-spanking-new Wonder Woman Freestyles. And yes, I copped a pair.
show us a pic of the kicks, erin!! i have no idea what they are!
While i agree about the fact that some of the styles in Little Burgundy may be found else where in the city, you clearly only have a one-sided mind about product; sneakers and sport shoes. You clearly are unable to open your eyes to some of the other incredible products they have.
That being said i also agree that the service is incredible and they have very down to earth employees. I also find your ‘pop shot’ about Aldo being pretenious hilarious. I shop at Aldo all the time, in fact, the majority of the Little Burgundy staff were transfered from Aldo in Market Mall (as i was informed from one of the Little Burgundy staff today). So to sum it up, Aldo and Little Burgundy have the same staff… now who’s pretentious?
Wow, that was harsh Gerald. Which side are you on here? The consumer? With a angle like that, it smells a lot like ‘related to the store’. Seriously? Comments like “open your eyes” and “now who’s pretentious?”
I agree, erin seems like a sneaker person, but that was one person’s opinion of the experience she had. I’ll give her some points for that.
Based on your name, Gerald, I’m going to guess that you’re a man. My impression of Aldo’s men’s selection is that they also affected by the growing sneakerhead influence, and they are definitely all very flat. Now, as a woman, and a Filipino woman at that (Imelda Marcos, anyone?), I have tried on and rocked out in a fair number of styles of shoes. I choose to limit myself to sneakers because (1) I prefer being barefoot to well-heeled and (2) the culture behind sneakers is fascinating (just check out Sneaker Freaker magazine at sneakerfreaker.com). I suggest you spend one day walking around town in a pair of 3″ heels that Aldo is fond of making and then we can talk about having open eyes.
Also, I believe the term you are trying to use is ‘pot shot’.
Now, about being pretentious. The fact that you shop at Aldo all the time suggests that you are trendy and/or fashionable, and that’s not a bad thing. I, however, while inescapably affected by trends, would never consider myself trendy or fashionable. As such, my extrapolation of unpretentious service is not only being able to bring me the correct size, color and model of shoe (which one sales associate seemed to be incapable of), but also being able to comment on whether a shoe fits the person(ality), rather than whether that shoes makes that person fit in. I should also mention that the lady who helped me was hired from Hot Gossip across the hall; if I had had a former Aldo associate, perhaps my experience would have been different. But I was glad for someone who was open to different personal styles and preferences.
To Little Burgundy’s credit, I forgot to mention that with their merchandise selection I definitely feel that they will be changing the game for women-specific sneakers in Calgary. What’s the point in competing in the dress shoe department when your parent company is Aldo? This strategy is epitomized in their choice to purvey the empowering Reebok Freestyle Femme Fatale.
Excellent pictures can be found at the Sneaker Freaker article here: http://www.sneakerfreaker.com/sneaker-releases/Reebok-Freestyle-wonder-Woman/
word, erin…nicely put!