Blog Special 20 years: Calimacil's moves !

Blog Special 20 years: Calimacil's moves !

In its 20-year history, Calimacil has moved many times to keep pace with its growth.

From Patrick's garage to our current premises at 1150 rue Deschaillons, we've passed through many places filled with stories and memories.

After 20 years of our website, take a look at the evolution of the premises that have marked the history of Calimacil!

2003 - 2004

Following his first experience at Bicolline, Patrick put his career in robotics engineering on hold to devote himself to the creation of foam weapons.

With limited resources, our CEO set to work in his parents' home to create the world's finest LARP weapon!

2005 - 2006

In 2005, Calimacil turns heads with a homemade foam recipe. Manufacturing is difficult, and workspace is needed to move from experimentation to real product development.

Aware of the need to move, Patrick builds his own house and dedicates a 330 sq. ft. room to his workshop!

This new space enabled him to manufacture 1000 guns with three employees: his cousin David Lessard and two of his friends: Michel Chaussé and Micael Kreitmann, the latter of whom is still with the company to this day.

2006 - 2009

In 2006, Calimacil moved out of its bedroom and into an outdoor workshop disguised as a garage. This 660-square-foot addition was built by Patrick and his father Réjean Lessard. This space will enable the company to improve its manufacturing process and double its production! In 2009, Christian Bédard bought shares in Calimacil to join forces with the company, which had only recently gone online.

A year later, it's time to expand! A 192 sq. ft. extension will be built where weapons finishing and offices will be set up. For two more years, inch by inch, elbow by elbow, space by space, motivation by motivation, Calimacil delivers durable, weatherproof weapons to customers who are discovering a whole new technology.

2010 - 2014

In 2010, an opportunity opened up just 3 minutes from Patrick's home. The old garage belonging to Garou's father was up for sale. Strongly encouraged by his father Réjean, himself an entrepreneur, Patrick set his sights on a 2,000-square-foot space - more than 3 times the size of the previous location!

The decision is made, Calimacil moves to North Hatley Street. The purchase and renovation of the 2000 sq. ft. building took 3 months, but the investment was well worth it!

2014 - 2017

The first year following this new installation, finances are difficult. Patrick and his partner tighten their belts. Patrick doesn't hesitate to inject his own money to pay the employees. Black October, then November...

The company had run out of cash, and unemployment was inevitable. A decision had to be made, and the first flash sale was launched! On Friday, we warned employees that they were out of work. On Sunday evening, we called them back and told them to go back to work full time until Christmas to deliver orders to customers! It was a crazy weekend, we thought we'd killed the company with this maneuver, and yet we worked until Christmas, 16 people in a small 1500 sq. ft. space. I've often said, "we were so tight that if we got a shovel in, we'd have to get a broom out!"

This beautiful premises at 3060 Chemin de North Hatley was not enough, the quality of life for employees had to be improved.

A new location at 2365 rue Roy was found, thanks to some fencing friends! The surface area grew from 2,000 to 6,000 square feet! The move took two weeks, after which production and shipping resumed at full speed! Although demand was high, we lacked a challenge. Our desire to make guns more attractive with an electronic game led us to develop the CaliMotion. With passion and dedication, we had worked pretty well in 2015. So much so that all our orders were on time and we had built up a fine inventory.

Hit again by the October and November sales slumps, the company was heading for a financial crisis. Disney's announcement of a new Star Wars movie made us want to make a lightsaber. A KickStarter campaign brought in $146,000, allowing us to keep our heads above water and our team active! A strong media presence earned us a formal notice from LucasFilm for using the LightSaber trademark, and a contract with Moment Factory for a magic forest.

We expanded the premises to satisfy a contract with Bungie to deliver Hammer of Sol. Although the premises were comfortable at 7,000 sq. ft., the property no longer met the city's requirements. We soon had to move again.

2017 - ?

We're finally here! In 2017, Calimacil begins its 5th move to 1150 rue Deschaillons, where the building has once again tripled in size (yes, we like to multiply everything by three!) to 21,000 square feet!

For Patrick, it's the fulfillment of a dream. "To finally have the location where we feel at home, where we have everything we need to accomplish all the projects we have in mind." With the added bonus of a fencing training room!

Radio Canada talked about this move with this nice article → https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1065998/calimacil-lentreprise-sherbrookoise-grandit

For 7 years now, we've been improving our production equipment, fitting out superb offices, hosting several editions of CaliCON with the sole aim of always building the LARP experiences of tomorrow.

This premises marks a major change in Calimacil's history, as we can finally take on any challenge that comes our way without constraint!

Some of you have surely had the opportunity to visit our premises and shop in our physical boutique! If so, please let us know about your experience in the comments or on our google page or our Trust Pilot page

Let a review on Google Let a review on Trust Pilot