Overview
Calabar Imports is a retail store with imported products. The store and business is owned by Heloise Annette Oton and her daughter, Atim Annette Oton. Based in the up-and-coming revitalized neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, we are the source for the distinct, select and unique handcrafted items. We offer stylish, eclectic and affordable fashion clothing, fashion accessories, jewelry, home decor and gifts to consumers wanting to create a unique personalized home environment and accessorize their body.
Our Story and History: A Spur-of-the-moment Start-up builds Steam to become a noted Brand Retail Store in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn:
In spring 2004 Heloise Annette Oton and her daughter, Atim Annette Oton embarked on a voyage to develop an innovative retail store for a town. Calabar, where Heloise lived in Nigeria for about 18 years out of 25 years and where Atim was born. This journey took them to initiate the purchase and collection of a variety of merchandise-mainly fashion accessories and cosmetics. In the months that followed, and as they collected more items, a spur-of-the-moment thought evolved to explore retailing these products in New York rather than in Calabar, Nigeria. Atim applied to become a street vendor for the duo and they participated in various street fairs across Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx and Connecticut. The team were at the International African Arts Festival in Brooklyn, Black Expo and the Harlem Book Fair, both in Manhattan. Customer feedback and merchandise testing revealed to them that the idea was not only feasible but a hit to shoppers. In August 2004, the two participated in the Washington Avenue Street Fair (in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn) where Atim spotted a sign for a store for rent and inquired about it. This store is today the place where CALABAR Imports resides. It is the moment when Heloise and Atim decided to become a company and open a store.
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