Education and Fun for the Whole Family!™

While that phrase pretty much says it all, we thought we should share a bit more about our store and our business philosophies.

History

Kite and Kaboodle was established in 1991. A personal passion for kites and involvement in the wholesale gift industry, led to a small table display selling 5 styles of kites at the local Forks Market. That single market table was given up in 1992 when we established our first permenant retail outlet, a 300 square foot "skywalk" location in downtown Winnipeg. In 1993 we relocated back to The Forks, into the newly restored Johnston Terminal.  Our new store was almost four times the size of our skywalk location! We have since expanded that store three times and added an additional location for a current total of over 12,000 square feet of fun!

Current Facilities 

That original retail outlet is now a beautiful 7000 square foot "hands-on" store, located in the historic Johnston Terminal at The Forks (a restored heritage rail building located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). We stock over 25,000 items including about 5,000 new items every year! That's a big increase over the five styles of kites that we started with!

In the spring of 2016 we opened our second location in St. Vital Centre, located in the south end of Winnipeg. This 5000 square foot store is located just steps from Hudson's Bay and provides the same great product selection as the "original" Kite and Kaboodle located at The Forks.

Product Selection

Selecting the right products for our customers has always been a priority for us. We travel to a variety of trade shows offering different product groups, to come up with what we feel is a great collection of items that will please our customers and meet their shopping needs. We look for things that are fun or educational. We look for products that will interest all age groups and appeal to a wide variety of interests. We look for high quality products that offer good value. We look for manufacturers and distributors that will stand behind their products.

When we are selecting products, we select them based on their own merit and not on the manufacturers advertising budget! We also stay away from products that depict or encourage violence.

It is interesting to note that with such a diverse product mix as we carry, we are perceived as a variety of different stores. We have been described by customers as: a kite shop; a toy store; a book store; a gift shop and a variety of other concepts. Our favourite description (and the one that comes up most often) is the store with all the "Neat Stuff". We are pleased to be something different and special to everyone!

Customer Service

In such a fun store it's hard to be serious, but we are very serious when it comes to serving our customers. Each customer gets the special attention they deserve from our knowledgeable staff. Meeting our customers' needs is our number one priority!

The Online Catalog

The online catalog provides a reference to some of our great product selection.  It doesn't cover everything we carry, but it gives you a sense of what is in store.  Please call us for more product information or come explore in person!  Currently, ordering is not available through the website.  If you'd like to place an order for Curbside Pickup please call one of the stores or click the "How to Place Your Order" link at the top of each page for instructions on placing an email order.

The Purpose of This Website

We hope this website will become a source of information for our customers and potential customers. In addition to our online catalog, we'll provide basic information like store hours, location information, access to a gift card balance checker, highlight new products, make some special offers, newsletters etc. If there's something you'd like to see on the site, let us know and we'll see if we can work it in!