# Canadian Retailers



## gennifyr (Aug 22, 2006)

I'm planning my first Halloween party this year and am having trouble finding Canadian retailers (online) for supplies such as brain molds. I'm in a small city and there isn't much selection here for that kind of thing.

Any links?

Thanks,

Gennifyr


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## colmmoo (Jul 23, 2005)

Have you tried eBay? Not sure if Oriental Trading Company ships to Canada. They would be a good source too.


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## WonderfullyWicked (Mar 29, 2005)

When I first started out I also tried to shop in country.....and then I gave it up. From what I gathered, we just don't have the suppliers in Canada. (I'm going to chalk this one up to the shear difference in population between us and our neighbours to the South.) That being said, I have found some very good sites that will ship to Canada and some will even 'help' you out with customs and duty. My best advice is to find a reputable site and e-mail them to see what they can do for you. So far my favourites have been Anatomical Chart Company, Oriental Trading Company, and Vampfangs.
My question is why in the world can't I find flicker bulbs in this country? Why?!?


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## colmmoo (Jul 23, 2005)

Do you have a Winners/Home Sense store nearby? I heard they have a good selection of Halloween stuff, though maybe not flicker bulbs.


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## Trick-Or-Tweat (Sep 30, 2005)

Speaking of Canadians...

If you are Canadian... What is your province, and what city are you from?

Barrie Ontario, Canada. here.


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## gennifyr (Aug 22, 2006)

Thanks for all the replies. Ebay is a last resort as the good stuff is from the U.S and almost always shipped UPS which is a big no no. I emailed OTC to see what there shipping rates are like. We do have a Winners and a Home Sense but the selection there sucks.

I'm in Thunder Bay, Ontario.


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## WonderfullyWicked (Mar 29, 2005)

I am currently stationed in Edmonton and my family is from Collingwood, Ontario. Hopefully we'll be going home for Thanksgiving so we can catch the fabulous fall foliage. Fall seems to last for only a week here and then you're looking at snow.....for the next 8 months.


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## Trick-Or-Tweat (Sep 30, 2005)

Are you kidding me?! COLLINGWOOD? That's only 30 minutes away from me! Wow, it's a small world.


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## colmmoo (Jul 23, 2005)

Going to Toronto in the next few days and found that the have a Winners/Home Sense store close to the CN Tower. I may not have time to go now to that store. Am I missing a lot? Do they have a lot of props? I'll make time to go if they do.


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## DontBlink (Aug 10, 2006)

I'm in Victoria, BC and I have the same problem finding cool Halloween stuff that isn't outrageously expensive (I get very jealous when I read about Spirit stores and Big Lots!)! It seems like stores are getting more each year though, so I guess there's hope! I was in our Winners here (which is a small one) last week and they had just received quite a bit of Halloween stuff. There's 3 aisles of it this year! A lot of it is quite cutesy like candy dishes, musical snow globes, etc (that's not a put-down - I bought some of it!) but there were also a few really cool things like a 3 foot (approx) high mummy and witch (can't remember prices), hanging ghouls with styrofoam skulls and raggedy cheesecloth bodies that were about 2 feet tall for $14.99, a felt Halloween wall calendar in the shape of a spooky mansion, and raven candlesticks (which I saw posted in another thread from the Horchow site) for $9.99. They also have lots of the metal 'gothic' type wall decorations in stock right now (not in the Halloween section). Alas, no flicker bulbs though!


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## a witch from canada (Jul 13, 2005)

hi...i am a poor soul in Roxton Falls , Quebec province and we have not much props here....i have to rely on ebay alot and what cant be shiped to canada i have a good friend that accepts to ship my packages back in the USA but i get to pay shiping twice....

these are in Ontario 

www.boneyardbargains.ca 
http://www.creepedout.ca/Bloody_Mary/catalog/ 
www.horrorsunlimited.com
www.mccullochs.on.ca 

this one you can shop in canadian currency http://www.halloweenonly.com/website/aspfiles/home.asp 

darkside display , alarming products , halloween mart....their in the usa ...but ship to Canada as well as fright catalog...

hope this helps you out 

A Witch From Canada


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## gennifyr (Aug 22, 2006)

Thanks for the links. My biggest issue with shipping from the U.S is that almost everyone ships via UPS. The issue of course being that UPS charges a "handling" fee for bringing things across the border. I ordered something once that cost $100 and I had to pay UPS almost $40 extra when they came to my door for their services, no advanced warning. So it usually isn't worth it. Stores are slowly coming out with their Halloween stuff so we'll see what they come out with.


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## DontBlink (Aug 10, 2006)

Thanks for the links, Witch from Canada!


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## WonderfullyWicked (Mar 29, 2005)

Boneyard Bargains. 
I mentioned this somewhere else, some time ago, but I feel I should give my fellow Canadians a heads-up. I ordered some skellies and skulls from them and the whole experience was a disaster. I would absolutely NOT recommend ordering from them. Besides, as I recall, I didn't pay any duty or taxes on any of the stuff I have ordered from Anatomical Chart Company. Save yourself the grief and get your bones from ACC.


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## Jackielantern (Oct 31, 2005)

*buycostumes.com*

I just went to their website & they ship to Canada.

They have a pretty good selection of costumes & props. Prices seem ok, not the cheapest (Big Lots) but not overly high either. In fact, for the first time in 11 years I'm buying my costume (from buycostumes) instead of sewing. WoooHoo! Gives me more time to decorate!

I checked they have the brain mold for $8.99. They have a trophy for best costume too.....7.99. I'm gonna order it & my costume next week so I can give a review if anyone is interested.


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## a witch from canada (Jul 13, 2005)

glad i could help out posting some links.....i have not purchased from some of them so i wouldnt know about products or service like i said i am use to ebay purchases....last year i was suprised as walmart had some very big awsome tombstones for cheap 13$ and 15$ and they also had nice large feathered crows (i been buying them there for the past 2 years) their 20$ canadian...they also had the neat bats in 3 or 4 diffrent sizes , and some hanging props.....so maybe their is hope for this year for more props ?

for costumes their is also shindigz that as alot of costumes that will ship to Canada ....and they have tons of party stuff too and neat decor to create scenes or themes....

A Witch From Canada


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## Jackielantern (Oct 31, 2005)

I went to Party America last night & got the same Best Costume trophy for 3.99. So I guess one has to be careful @ buycostumes.com


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## SapphyreMoon (Oct 19, 2004)

There are a few canadian sites, someone mentioned McCullochs, they are good to deal with, at least in my experience. 
I've bought a fair amount of stuff from buycostumes.com and am impressed, often, it's cheaper than buying in Canada anyway given that the exchange rate is fabulous right now; and they are fast and reliable. I live in the boonies in central BC and they FedEx my orders right to my door. 
I think Oyacostumes.com is canadian and Malabar.com is canadian. 
You have to do a shopping search on CanadianEh or ShopCanuk. Not easy to find but they are out there. 

Oriental Trading company will ship here, I have my first order in with them for a crapload of stuff for my halloween wedding. They seem okay so far..

I've read on other forums that boneyard bargians has had trouble with orders in the past too, so .........caution. 

Jackielantern, we don't have Party America in Canada. lol, not that I know of anyway.


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## WonderfullyWicked (Mar 29, 2005)

Did a little shopping today on my lunch hour.
Shopper's Drug Mart has their Halloween stuff out and here's a quick rundown:
Spirit Balls, both the witch and the gypsy versions, gothic lantern, silver strobe skulls, enormous foam skulls (the size of a beach ball, I swear), 'Bird of Prey' candy dish, foam skeleton, foam tombstones, carved plastic pumpkins, and the usual array of costumes, make-up, and candy. All in all, I think the stock is an improvement on last year.
I also noticed that Hallmark, WalMart ,and Zeller's are in the process of putting up their displays.
It's coming boys and girls, can you feel it?


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## Barbarella (Oct 17, 2003)

Hey gennifyr! Good luck with the party-- my best friend has asked me to do decorations and set up for her party, so this will me my first big one too.  

I just got off the phone with someone at McCullochs party store here in London and they do sell the bucky skeletons, even though their website doesn't list them. They sell for $150, but I'm not sure how much shipping would be to Thunder Bay. But it may be worthwhile emailing them, if it saves you shipping time rather than ordering from the U.S. Michael's craft stores seems to have a lot more stuff this year, I think their website is www.michaels.com. Have you tried http://www.boneyardbargains.ca? They're based out of Scarborough.


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## gennifyr (Aug 22, 2006)

The stores are just starting to bring stock out this week. I went to a dollar store and bought goody bags, trays, orange bulbs and some plastic eyeballs. We don't have a lot of cash to spend so we will building our prop supply slowly. I bookmarked all the links for future purchases.

Thanks,

Gennifyr


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## Cage (Sep 12, 2006)

*Canadian Stores/Sites*

Has anybody tried Spencer's. They have them in the malls in Calgary. I was there this weekend and they were putting all the Halloween stuff out. Its a great place for props.

www.spencersonline.com

P.S.
They have a great plasma ball that you can screw into a normal light socket.

http://www.spencersonline.com/index...oductID/5313b441-a7b3-4e7a-a482-b71079471a80/


Cage


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## great_ghoul (Aug 14, 2004)

Shopper's Drug Mart is getting better each year with the halloween stuff. Last year I picked up a good looking 7 foot skelley for $29....and that was just one of the small stores in North Vancouver...I imagine the larger ones have an even better supply of things.


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## the_great_gazoo (Nov 6, 2005)

shopper drug mart every store in my city has different stock, there large tombstones are cool, i like the bandge hat with the rat on it but my family says it is too gross so i can not get it lol


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## otherworldly (Sep 28, 2004)

colmmoo said:


> Going to Toronto in the next few days and found that the have a Winners/Home Sense store close to the CN Tower. I may not have time to go now to that store. Am I missing a lot? Do they have a lot of props? I'll make time to go if they do.


Our Winners had nice stuff, but I wouldn't call it props...candy dishes and Frankenstein nutcrackers, towels embroydered with bats...I haven't been to Home Sense yet, but last year it had the same sort of stuff.


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## WonderfullyWicked (Mar 29, 2005)

Otherworldly is right. I think Winners and Home Sense are owned by the same company and so their stock is very similar. The only difference I have noticed is that Home Sense has a lot more stuff.


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## Cage (Sep 12, 2006)

They just opened a Mega Home Sense/Winners store in Calgary. They had a good selection of props along side the candy dishes and towels. I was about 10 min. too late. Someone else had cleaned them out and filled their 2 carts with some great props. I was trying to convince her that she didn't need them all but she wouldn't budge.

I agree with WonderfullyWicked that Home Sense has a lot more stuff as well the better quality props but it all hinges on when you walk in...


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