Crown Surplus Stores

Crown Surplus is a business that has reinvented itself over the years out of necessity. Some of the other reviews may be exaggerating the availability of «surplus» items, and those who have a deep knowledge of militaria and a memory of the store dating back decades may find the remarks a bit inaccurate. In the 1970s and 80s, the store had bins full of Second World War web gear, uniforms and insignia — before the rise of the internet, very few collectors were much interested in this stuff. One of the reasons myself and other collectors began writing books in the 1990s was because there were so few references. Once ebay opened things up, and European collectors began to acquire Canadian and U.S. collectibles from the Second World War, I think the inventory began to dry up.
It may be coincidence, but Crown Surplus started to shift away from a heavy focus on war surplus in that period as well. There was also the heavier involvement of the proprietor’s children, and factory new camping/​adventure gear began to appear alongside second-​hand military equipment and military «themed» clothing. One long-​standing attraction of the store, a «museum» set in the warehouse, consisted of a vintage collection of wartime posters, deactivated small arms, armoured vehicles (including a Churchill tank, M3 halftrack, etc.) and even a V1 rocket. The museum has long since been out of bounds, as I understand it, the armoured vehicles sold off (the Churchill to a buyer in the U.S. IIRC — the halftrack was briefly a feature at a car dealership). The vintage Jeep belonging to the store can be seen in the film Superman III.
The store remains something of a Calgary institution but its status as a go-​to for military surplus, or military collectibles, has probably fallen by the wayside due to the rise of internet auctions, as this is no longer their speciality. They do have a good collection of military-​themed clothing such as brand-​new BDUs, backpacks, raingear and other items suitable for hiking, camping, hunting, paintball, airsoft, etc. and is still worth checking out every once in awhile for the odd rare collectible. Staff have always been friendly and helpful in my experience.

I recently found this store and it has been in business 65+ years!
Lots of cool artifacts, I shall visit again for sure!

Went here Last week with My BF! It was amazing Gee’s so much selections of cool gear and cloths and gadgets!!! 10 Out of 10 for sure! It was Clean well organized and the Staff where neat! The prices where reasonable to not to expensive. Just right!
For fact Il come back here again in the future!!! Great Job Crown Surplus keep up the great work!

I’ve always been a fan of the military, always finding ways to help and serve in one way or another, especially in recent years with the odd Legion Hall for our vets. My best friends were all military related in one way or another, and as we grew up, our favorite games were always involving military themed adventures and challenges. It always appealed to my sense of nostalgia, of times where honour and good is something that can be seen in all of it’s forms.
Crown Surplus is one of those places that serve such people as me, and military enthusiasts throughout Calgary and the surrounding areas. Interestingly decorated with a plane jutting from the front, and tons of classic military weaponry in their yards, this is easily the biggest place in Southern Alberta.
Military clothing, insignas, headgear, footgear, military and survival gear, masks and so on, this place is packed to the gills with all of that and more. It’s a little pricey in some ways, but still it’s pretty much a one-​stop place for all things military (and not just Canadian, there’s tons of stuff from other nations as well).
For the wargamer in me, it’s a fantastic place to be, and just plain fun to browse too.
Quick warning — there’s no returns and no rentals so far as I know, so this ain’t the place for Halloween and costume parties unless you really want to keep the stuff. But at the same time, why wouldn’t you want to?
#28 of Unilocal’s 30-​Day Review Challenge

Crown Surplus is a one of kind shopping gala of military collectibles, memorabilia, replicas, clothing and field equipment in Calgary.
Located in a nice gnourmous location in Inglewood, you simply can’t miss it because it houses antique military vehicles in its huge lot.
The people here are very friendly and obviously know their business, there is original clothing and jackets and also newer copies of military-​esque wear. Expect knives, canteens, medals, goggles, knapsacks, gas masks and tons of military clothing. Original army pants start at $ 75 and good pilot’s jackets will put you back about $ 120 bucks.
You would not have to go to any other store location if you stopped here; they even have a small area in one of the corners to suit up your kids, complete with mini changing rooms.
I find prices kind of expensive but I haven’t been in a military store since the late nineties when a good pair of army pants would cost me $ 20 to $ 25, perhaps with inflation and as the years pass their prices are reasonable, but I don’t know enough about this market to be sure.
If you need to winterise yourself with solid jackets, toques or accessories, this is the place to come, if it was good enough for the military, it will be more than good enough for you.

One previous Halloween, we had a Resident Evil theme at work. A few of us were selected to be soldiers. We all wanted to match and started looking for different items to complete our costume. Crown Surplus was an early stop in our several week trek.
To be clear, Crown Surplus is not a good Halloween stop unless you plan on keeping and using whatever you buy. This place is pretty expensive, but genuine stuff is not cheap. The person we dealt with was knowledgeable and the selection was extensive. If my interest in their product extended beyond this Halloween, I would have drained my wallet that day.
In the end, we didn’t buy anything. Spending a few hundred dollars, which would have been easy, wasn’t in line with our Halloween budget. But this place certainly struck me as the place to go for any avid collector. Stop by if you’re into this kind of stuff, but don’t forget your wallet.