Calgary retailers, restaurants ready to wrangle in record Stampede sales

The Calgary Stampede is set to bring millions of dollars to the city's economy as local retailers and restaurants expect to cash in on a much-needed recovery from the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Smithbilt Hats shattered its all-time daily sales record on Wednesday and had its best sales month in its history in June as hundreds of hats and western accessories were sold.

Kelly Fedorowich, the retail and events manager with the century-old Calgary company, says excitement in the city for Stampede has never been higher.

"It's just unprecedented," said Fedorowich. "We have our hats flying off the shelves and there is no way that we could keep up with the inventory. Our production team is working around the clock.

"We were doing a fair bit of online sales during the pandemic, but this week has really shifted for us because we've had our corporate events come back and we're finally able to use our full event room."

Smithbilt Hats customers trying on hats on July 6 ahead of the start of the 2022 Calgary Stampede.

Other western apparel stores like Cody & Sioux in Inglewood are also feeling the buzz of Stampede energy, especially as Kevin Costner is honoured as the 2022 parade marshal.

"We’ve always had a loyal customer base, but this year is off the charts," said floor manager Connie Polancec.

"People are so excited to be coming in and scooping up everything. I think it means recovery for all businesses from COVID and just putting us back on track."

Polancec adds that some of the more retro items like fringe and embroidery shirts along with western themed graphic tees are amongst the most popular in-store items.

Connie Polancec shows off some of the retro fringe western shirts available at Cody & Sioux.

The Calgary Stampede says early ticket sales indicate strong attendance numbers, with near pre-pandemic levels expected as crowds will be welcomed back to the ground for the first full scale event since 2019.

More than one million people are anticipated to visit the Stampede grounds during the 10-day event.

RESTAURANTS ANTICIPATE STAMPEDE RUSH AS STAFFING SHORTAGES LOOM

After two years of struggling sales, local restaurants are slowly starting to get back on their feet with large events like the Calgary Stampede providing a lot of momentum.

The extra business is more than welcome for people like Stephen Deere who owns Modern Steak, but staffing shortages are still a major problem

"This is going to be one of the biggest Stampedes of all time, but the downside is that there are still staff shortages across the city, and we all need people badly," said Deere.

Modern Steak made the difficult decision to shut down its Kensington location temporarily for the 10 days of Stampede and only keep its Southport location open for lunch.

Deere adds that extra staff from those locations will shift their focus to the Modern Steak located on Stephen Avenue in preparation for a mad dash of customers.

"If you don't have the ability to service customers, then you can't get your building all the way open or have all your sections open, you're always losing productivity,” he said.

"That means employees aren't making as much cash as they can and we're not producing any tax revenues so it's very important that we bring all these people here to be able to make all those things happen."

Management at Modern Steak on Stephen Avenue are preparing for a busy 10 days during the Calgary Stampede.

Modern Steak says it is fully booked for the duration of Stampede at its Stephen Avenue location, serving no less than 600 to 800 people daily.

Deere notes that he's looking forward to a busy week ahead, but is still concerned about the well-being of everyone working in the restaurant industry.

"The level of anxiety and burnout over the last two-and-a-half years has really made public that mental illness is a big issue in the hospitality industry.

"This compounds with the staff shortages, so the more people that we can get back into this industry and show what a great industry it is, the better it is for all of us."