Shopping
Souvenir Shopping The Powderhounds have awarded Banff with the “
Best Souvenir Shopping” in Canada, and for good reason. There are a plethora of shops selling Canadian and Banff souvenirs, and a variety of all sorts of keepsakes either with the Canadian flag, the maple leaf or “Canada” or “Banff” sprawled across it.
You can purchase clothing such as caps, beanies, windcheaters, jackets, socks, polar-fleeces, neck-warmers, pyjamas and t-shirts. It seems compulsory to have boasting rights to your visit to Banff and Canada by displaying this on some piece of clothing. The common t-shirts available that have the slogan “I love big dumps” must make some mother really proud.
The shops in Banff also sell many other souvenir objects including keyrings, stickers, glasses, pins, mugs, playing cards, and the list goes on. Banff has made the most of fantastic marketing opportunities as the profile of the area as a holiday or ski destination is heightened through free advertising.
There are also shops selling maple syrup and maple syrup products. We purchased some as a gift, but it didn’t make it home. There are also lots of candy (lolly) shops in Banff.
Ski/board Equipment Shopping There are lots of shops selling ski and board equipment and clothing. There’s a small Sportschek and lots of other shops that sell gear ranging from grungy to luxurious.
Our favourite shop was
Banff Mountain Wear in the Cascade Plaza Mall on the corner of Banff Avenue and Wolf St. There’s a good range of equipment and clothing brands such as Spyder, Descente, Orage and DNA. The owner and staff were incredibly knowledgeable, and we loved the place because they provided discounts for buying in bulk. Or perhaps we were just so happy because of all the Spyder gear? The Glacier shop in the same plaza also has a decent range of equipment and clothing.
Some of the best bargains for snow gear we discovered were at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, which had an amazing sale on. It was late February and with a relatively poor season, they were almost throwing out clothing. Some of the items had the Fairmont insignia on the sleeve (not to everyone’s taste) but there was great quality Karbon gear.
Grocery Shopping There are two main grocery stores in Banff. In addition to groceries, Keller’s has cheap deli meals such as soup, salads and sandwiches. Safeway is more of a supermarket. We shopped at the super IGA in Canmore where there was a huge range of groceries at very reasonable prices.