In October 2003, BluBox opened its doors on Calgary’s 17th Avenue. The last eight months have seen their name slowly spread throughout Calgary as a new place to check out clothes, jewelry and home furnishings. Gaycalgary.com spoke with BluBox’s Manuel Alfarela, who is a co-owner of the store along with Tanya Durkin, Mike Jackson, Jeremy Kish, Craig Becker, and Craig Roberts, about how BluBox came about.

"Tanya and I were talking about consignment stores," he said. "Often times going to one feels like walking into a thrift store. We wanted to create something that had more of a retail store feeling to it. The idea of adding home accessories and more of a lifestyle store evolved as we talked."

From there, it was a year long process to finalize the concept and put everything in place to open.

"The hardest struggle was finding a location. We specifically wanted to be on 17th Avenue, and it was difficult to find the space. The idea and the concept was so new; there is nothing in Calgary like the store, and we felt it would do well on 17th Avenue."

In addition to consignment clothing, the store offers original new designs in clothing, accessories and home décor.

"It’s part consignment, part new products. We sell both designer labels and regular clothing, in addition to having local designers for clothing and accessories. We also have a home furnishings area. The only things we consign are clothes; everything else is brand new." Alfarela said when asked to describe the store.

It is hard for any new business, gay or straight, to succeed in their first year. Many struggle to survive or shut their doors. BluBox is proud that they have gotten through the often-difficult winter months and are looking forward to the summer bringing in more traffic. Alfarela talked about the key to BluBox’s success.

"It has been difficult because we opened at the beginning of winter, so there wasn’t a lot of walk in traffic. The advertising really helped – you need to do that – but in addition the word of mouth was a great asset. Calgary has been great to us, and the feedback we receive is overwhelmingly positive. People walk in and say how good the store looks; you don’t have any idea it is a consignment store until you look at the clothes. Those people who have come in have talked about the store in a positive way, and that word of mouth has been invaluable. If BluBox was just average, or that we weren’t different, then we wouldn’t be around anymore."

A number of things make BluBox unique.

"The concept of mixing consignment with new clothes is unique. As well as the fact that we use local designers instead of ordering in different lines from elsewhere – a lot of people like that fact. It promotes and gives back to the local community. Our customer service is something we strive to excel at. For example, we offer lemonade to drink when it is warmer, or hot chocolate in the winter, while our customers shop."

17th Avenue has rapidly grown as a retail environment. In the past shoppers haven’t strayed far from the usual 2nd – 8th Street area, but with the addition of retail stores like PRIAPE and BluBox, as well as some great restaurants and cafes, people are exploring farther down 17th.

"There is a lot more walk by traffic than I had expected. Our end of 17th Avenue has had a lot of new cafes, bars and retail places opening, so people are traveling farther down to our area more often now."

The store gets a healthy mix of gay, lesbian and straight customers, many of which come from the local lower Mount Royal/Beltline area. It is convenient for people to head up the street, do some shopping, and walk back home – one of the benefits of the location. In addition to supporting local designers and artists, BluBox allows people the option of donating unsold clothing to The United Way and The Salvation Army. As the store grows and thrives, they hope to become more involved in the community. It is to early to guess what the future holds for BluBox, but Alfarela says expansion hasn’t been ruled out.

"We haven’t really talked much about it yet. If the store does extremely well, we would consider opening another location in Calgary. It depends on the success locally if we were to expand into other cities. The concept is unique enough that we could do that, it will just depend on time and how things go from here."

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Contributor Jason Clevett |

Locale Calgary |

Topic BluBox | Fashion |