Happy New Year!

Well, the holiday season was a blur and by the time we closed the doors on December 24th all of us were grateful to have some quiet time to relax and see our families and friends. The break was great, and now we are back and ready to go for 2012.

The Inglewood Main Store is opening again on Tuesday January 3rd. Our regular business hours are:

Monday — closed
Tuesday — 10 am to 5 pm
Wednesday — 10 am to 5 pm
Thursday — 10 am to 5 pm
Friday — 10 am to 5 pm
Saturday — 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday — Noon to 4 pm

The Calgary Farmers’ Market is also reopening this week on Thursday January 5th. The CFM hours are:

Thursday — 9 am to 5 pm
Friday — 9 am to 5 pm
Saturday — 9 am to 5 pm
Sunday — 9 am to 5 pm
Monday through Wednesday — closed 

We hope all of you enjoyed the holidays and we hope to see you in the shop soon!

Holiday Hours and Shipping

Firstly, we need to give everyone a quick reminder that at this point, we can’t make any commitments about packages arriving before December 25.

Our normal standard is to get orders filled and shipped within 1-2 days of receiving them, and even with the high holiday volume we’re still filling orders within 3-4 days. But we can’t be responsible for shipping times. Canada Post says that December 12 is the last mailing day for guaranteed delivery before Christmas (using Expedited Parcel). In our experience, they are still getting things delivered much faster than that, but you never know what can happen.

So please just be aware that we can’t guarantee that gifts that have a long way to go — out east or up north in particular – will be there by the 25th.

Secondly, our second annual holiday closure is coming. After the craziness of December, we like to close the doors for a week to recharge our brains and give our hard-working staff a rest. So we will be closing at 1:00 pm on December 24 (short hours that day) and reopening Tuesday, January 3 to begin our normal business week.

This means that there could also be a shipping delay for online orders made that week. It’s possible we’ll be in to fill orders at some point during the break, but all we can promise is that we will get any backlogged orders out the door ASAP on Tuesday when we get back to work.

As for the Calgary Farmers’ Market, it will be open one extra day (Wednesday, December 21) and closed from December 24 until January 5.

So to summarize our holiday hours:

Inglewood Store: Open normal hours until the 24th. Open 10am-1pm on the 24th. Closed until January 3.

Calgary Farmers’ Market: Open December 21, 22, 23. Closed December 24 – January 5.

Christmas In Inglewood is Here

It’s time for Christmas in Inglewood! This great annual event will take place over two days, Thursday November 17th and Saturday, November 19th. 9th Avenue is all ready to go, with the Christmas banners up and Christmas lights decorating the lamposts. Here are the details:

 Thursday Evening, November 17th, 6pm to 9pm

Most of the shops in Inglewood will be open late on Thursday November 17th, so it’s a great time to drop by the neighborhood and get started on your Christmas shopping. We will be serving up complimentary Hot Apple Cider all evening (made with our very own Mulling Spices), so come on in and have a cup while you shop.

Saturday November 19th, 10pm to 5pm

This is the big event, and the day to come down with your whole family. Here are just some of the highlights:

• Inglewood Tree Find Scavenger Hunt – Find the trees in particpating Inglewood businesses for a chance to win great prizes!
• Entertainment -  Carollers, storytellers and more!
• Hay Rides -  There will be two wagons giving free hay rides up and down the street from 8th to 15th Street. 
• Ice Carving -  New this year!  Ice carvers will be carving three separate sculptures to decorate the street.  There will also be carving stations for people to try out ice-carving on their own. 
• Food Trucks -  They’re the newest craze to hit Calgary and they’ll be down in Inglewood. Check Twitter for the most up-to-date times and locations.
• Tons of samples and promotions in the shops. We will be offering 15% off all of our Gift Sets on both days.

This is sure to be a fantastic event, and we hope to see lots of new and familiar faces in the shop this week.

Come Visit Us in Inglewood

Our Inglewood shop opened on July 5th, 2011, and it has been a whirlwind of activity ever since. We’re busier than ever and finally have all the space we need to give our spices the attention they deserve. All of our spices and blends are in big apothecary jars, and you are welcome (encouraged, in fact!) to spend all the time you need smelling and tasting everything. We can also pack up refill bags and larger amounts of all of our products while you shop.

Our shop hours are:

Monday — closed
Tuesday — 10 am to 5 pm
Wednesday — 10 am to 5 pm
Thursday — 10 am to 8 pm
Friday — 10 am to 5 pm
Saturday — 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday — Noon to 4 pm

We have been so well-received by the community and are meeting new people all the time who have come down to spend the day on 9th Avenue. We love this neighbourhood (we live right next door in Ramsay!) and the businesses on the main strip are getting more plentiful, diverse and interesting all the time. Inglewood is definitely becoming a food hub here in Calgary, with great specialty kitchen stores, an incredible Japanese knife shop, and some of the city’s best restaurants. We couldn’t be more pleased to join the group.

To see a full list of all the neighbourhood businesses, check out the Inglewood BRZ website.

New Hours at the Calgary Farmers’ Market

New Calgary Farmers’ Market Hours

We’re happily settled into our stall at the new Heritage Drive & Blackfoot Trail location of the Calgary Farmers’ Market, and we’ve loved getting to know all the new customers who’ve discovered us since the move.  If you’re in the Calgary area and haven’t made it down yet, it’s definitely worth the trip. And make sure you come hungry– there are so many good things to eat!

Now that fall has arrived, the market has made adjustments to its hours and will no longer be open on Thursday evenings. The new hours (effective Thursday September 29th) are:

Thursdays — Sundays
9 am — 5 pm

Thanksgiving at the Market

Thanksgiving is only a couple of weeks away, and the market is a perfect place to plan out your entire Thanksgiving dinner. Some of the vendors are already taking pre-orders for free-range turkeys, and of course all the wonderful seasonal vegetables will be there, including fresh pumpkins. And if you need Pumpkin Pie Spice, Poultry Stuffing Blend or Brining Spices, you know where to find us! The market will be open all weekend including Thanksgiving Day, Sunday October 9th. See you there!

Our Shop is Moving to Inglewood

The time has finally come. We’ve been planning a move for the last couple of months and somehow we’re already down to our last couple of days in the current Ramsay store. It’s a bittersweet moment — we’re sad to be saying goodbye to our first location, but we’re also really excited about the new space. Bigger. Brighter. Better location. More visible. Better parking. You’ll really have to come and see it if you’re in Calgary. It’s worth getting excited about, I think.

Tomorrow (June 25) is our last day in Ramsay. We will then be closed for a week and a half to make the move and get set up in the new store. Our plan is to re-open in Inglewood on Tuesday, July 5 — after the long weekend. You never know what can happen, though, so it’s a good idea to check back here for updates. We’ll post if there are any delays.

In the meantime, you can always visit us at the Calgary Farmers’ Market this weekend and next weekend during the usual hours, and we’ll get back to shipping our online orders the second Canada Post gets back to delivering them.

The new store’s address is 1403A 9th Avenue S.E.. Planned hours are  Tues, Wed 10-5; Thurs 10-8; Fri, Sat 10-5; Sun 12-4.

How the Canada Post Lockout Affects Us

We had hoped it wouldn’t happen, but unfortunately there is a lockout at Canada Post and they have suspended operations across the country. We are therefore unable to ship our orders until it’s over. If there is something you desperately need you can contact us and we are happy to look into couriers, however please be aware that the costs are much higher– often triple the cost of Canada Post.

We certainly hope that the lockout doesn’t last long. In the meantime, our website will continue to accept orders, and we’ll continue to fill them — we just won’t be able to ship them until CP sorts themselves out. If it lasts longer than a week or two, maybe we’ll have to reassess our approach. As always, we welcome you to write to us (info@silkroadspices.ca) or call us at 403-261-1955 to talk it over.

Thanks for your understanding. For the most current information on the Canada Post situation you can access their Customer Information Hub here.

The New Calgary Farmers’ Market Location is Open!

Our New Farmers' Market Stall

We are so excited that the Calgary Farmers’ Market has finally re-opened in its amazing new space. The old location at the Currie Barracks closed on December 23rd of last year, and it’s been a long four months of planning and waiting for the new market to throw open its doors to the public. Well, last Thursday it finally happened, and people came out by the thousands! Despite the inevitable parking issues that come with a successful grand opening weekend, the opening was fantastic and we were so happy to say hello to all of our market customers again.

If you are in the Calgary area and haven’t been down to the new market yet, it really is worth a look. There are lots of new vendors as well as many long-time favourites, and the new building is airy and bright. There is a great new food court area with huge sunny windows (and an outdoor patio coming soon!) plus a big kids play area– our three-year-old was beside herself with glee when she finally got to explore it.

Our farmers’ market booth hasn’t changed much from before, but we have tried to squeeze as many spices as we can into our little space.  Almost all of our products are there, along with a selection of accessories and gift sets. And don’t forget: if you know you will be coming to the market you can always order online and then choose to pick up your order at our market stall. This way you won’t have to worry about us being sold out of something you need, and you can spend a few hours exploring the market after you pick up your spices.

The new Calgary Farmers’ Market is located at 510 – 77th Avenue SE, which is at the corner of Blackfoot Trail and Heritage Drive SE. Hours of operation are:

Thursdays 11 am – 7 pm
Fridays 9 am – 5 pm
Saturdays 9 am – 5 pm
Sundays 9 am – 5 pm

You can get more info about the market at www.calgaryfarmersmarket.ca

Holiday Closure and Shipping Delay

Hi everyone. Hope your holiday season, whatever you do, is a wonderful and relaxing one. We’re hoping that ours will be, and after a very busy November and December, we’re going to take a little time off and let our staff recharge their batteries.

In a nutshell, we will be closed from now until January 12. We will continue to fill online orders until January 1, but from Jan 1 – Jan 11, we will not be shipping orders. Of course, when we get back to work, we’ll get all orders out the door ASAP (so feel free to place an order), but keep in mind that the next couple of weeks will be slower than usual.

As for the Calgary Farmers’ Market, the Currie Barracks location is now closed for good. The new location on Blackfoot Trail (just north of Heritage Drive) will be open the usual Fri-Sun hours starting on February 4.

Enjoy the holidays, everyone!

Notice about Christmas Orders

Hi everyone — happy holidays. This is just a quick note to remind everyone that unfortunately we can’t make any commitments about packages arriving before December 25.

Our normal standard is to get orders filled and shipped within 1-2 days of receiving them, but with the high volume we’ve had in November and December, things are taking a little longer than usual. We’re still filling orders within 3-4 days, but we’re now down to the wire when it comes to shipping times. Canada Post says that December 11 is the last mailing day for guaranteed delivery before Christmas (using Expedited Parcel). In our experience, they are still getting things delivered much faster than that, but you never know what can happen.

So that’s it. Just keep in mind that while we will do everything in our power to get your orders filled and mailed immediately, at this point we can’t guarantee that you’ll receive your order by the 25th.