Malabar Limited

Being a dance teacher, I was thrilled to check out Ottawa’s primary supplier of dance-​wear products: Malabar. Perhaps it was my heightened expectations from various people telling me how amazing it was, but I showed up expecting the best of the best. Sadly, I was underwhelmed. This seemed like a generic, run of the mill dance store with a basic costume shop attached to it.
It does have the basic items (shoes, tights, bodysuits) and the expected brands (capezio, bloch etc) expected of a dance store. It would be a good place for parents of dancers, and dancers alike, to purchase items for their every day classes. That being said, there were no items that particularly stood out as being unique.
Perhaps I would have been willing to explore more, but the staff did not make for a very pleasurable shopping experience. It is not very often that I am unable to feel empathetic towards store employees (we all have bad days, right?) but I was very offended by how I was treated at Malabar. The store was absolutely empty on a Sunday afternoon and there must have been 5 staff members in the store. No one greeted or offered to help me when I entered, and anytime I had questions, I was made to feel like a nuisance. I also got mixed messages from employees regarding various things such as sizing, ordering and my options as a customer.
The costume section of the store was pretty interesting, and you can see how it would appeal around Halloween time. Chalk-​full of wigs, feather boas, hats etc, this would be the perfect place to mix and match items to create the perfect costume. Right by the cash you can also find costume jewelry: glittery rhinestoned pieces as well as makeup, paint and masks.
I will return, but that is because my options are limited. Make sure that you go a few weeks, or even months before if you are looking for something in particular because they may not have the size or colour that you desire, and waiting for items to ship could take weeks.

For most people, the only time you will want to go to Malabar is a few weeks before Halloween. Why? Because they stock the place with every kind of costume under the sun. It isn’t a huge place, but they cram in all that they can. There is a section devoted to costume rentals, and the rest of the store is for purchasing different pieces of costumes. The rentals are high-​end and likely used in some stage performances, so don’t go renting one if you know you’re going to ruin it on Halloween. The retail side has props, fake facial hair, hats, and an endless amount of costume details to help anyone looking to make an impact on Halloween. You have to see the stock to believe what they have. The downside is the line up. For weeks before Halloween this place is packed and getting in the last few days before Halloween means you will be waiting in line. Is it worth it? If you want a good costume, i would say yes. The rest of the year Malabar is a location for dance related products and costumes. Although not quite as impressive as a store full of spooky props, Malabar is known as being a première retailer of dance supplies.