Although the launch of the second season of the Calgary Surge is still a few months away, the team is already eyeing up ways to build interest, excitement, and above all team loyalty ahead of May.

Calgary’s only professional basketball team is set to play its home opener at the Saddledome on May 21, but in the meantime, has already embarked on plans to engage with fans across the city.

As part of those plans, the team recently launched a pop-up store at CF Chinook Centre which will be in place through the spring.

“I think that started with a commitment that we made long ago, which is we’re going to go where Calgarians are. Like many parents and young families, I find myself at Chinook Centre almost every weekend,” said Jason Ribeiro, Vice-chair and President of the Calgary Surge.

“To be able to have reached an agreement with with Cadillac Fairview and the general manager of Chinook Centre to have a presence here for February, March, April and May is just a really special achievement for a new organization.”

Ribero said pop-up fits into the long-term plans for the team, in that the Surge wants to be seen as part of streetwear fashion culture, in much the same that the Toronto Raptors are.

“Very early on in our journey, we had our merchandise and status streetwear boutique in Kensington. So people are starting to turn heads, and people are starting to switch on and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to the Surge game today, what am I going to wear?'”

“I think we want to provide that option, not just at Surge games, but anywhere that you go to in Calgary.”

The team partnered in 2023 through the inaugural season with YYC SOLEdiers to create custom-designed sneakers from several local Calgary artists.

Getting the partnerships right and merchandise that people want to wear was important, Ribeiro said.

“This matters to people, right? It matters to the culture, it matters to the story. We’re standing here looking at kids looking through the racks here,” he said.

“The dream is that kids start to wear jerseys. It starts to maybe not supplant the national team in terms of the Raptors or Canada Basketball, but it’s another option that kids have to wear with pride.”

Ribero said that throughout the pop-up on weekends, shoppers will get a chance to interact with the team’s mascot Sergio, and possibly catch some performances by local groups.

“We’re already bustling with ideas about what this space can afford, and and how we can engage people,” he said.

The pop-up is located on the second level of CF Chinook Centre, above the north court where Moment Factory’s Mirror Mirror is located.