Welcome to SOCKBOX – the awesomest sock of the month club based in Canada. I’m Marshall, and I began SOCKBOX while working in Corporate Calgary back in 2014. I was bored with the day to day suit and tie, and was looking for a way to have a bit more fun with the corporate uniform. On a normal day at work I decided to hit a well known department store to find some colourful, fun socks to brighten my day. Instead, I discovered a messy, overwhelming environment, and no one to help me make a choice. Once the perfect pair of socks had been obtained the lineup was long, and I needed to be back to work – consequently I left without the socks. Then I turned online only to be frustrated trying to buy items that were only available to ship to US addresses.

It was because of these experiences and frustration that SOCKBOX was born!

I know that anyone can send you socks, but as a small team, we deliver awesomeness and care with your socks.

What makes us unique? We source awesome socks to help brighten up our members sock drawer and make the day awesome! We’re high touch and community focused. SOCKBOX began by being exclusive to Canada. Each month, automagically, our members get a little bit of awesome in their mail!

Explore our journey below.

Welcome to SOCKBOX

November 20 – We’re live! After weeks of planning, developing, and marketing we turned sockbox.ca live to begin accepting orders from Canadians coast-to-coast-to-coast.

Now shipping

December – We figured out our packaging. Custom designed, hand made envelopes to get the first 117 Sock of the Month orders in the mail in time for Christmas.

And when we say custom and hand made, we’re not lying. Merged data direct to the 18″ x 12″ page in our signature argyle design. A knife to cut out a few pieces, some double-sided tape, and a bone folder to save the fingers. And to top it off, literally, bright orange duct tape. The only way to get in to it really was by tearing into awesomeness!

Sock Lovers Advent Calendar®

September – We began working on packaging design for our first annual Sock Lovers Advent Calendar®. It went on sale, and the 50 collections we had available, sold out in less than one month.

November – We figured out the inside packaging. More double-sided tape and bone folders were used to make the inside boxes. When empty, they actually created a surprise picture.

We loaded them up in the back of the VW Golf, and hand delivered to several members in Calgary. The other ones were shipped out and arrived across Canada just in time for the December 1st start. We’re honoured that this package still lives on, and is reused by some to create their own advent calendar.

You’ve got mail

January – Introducing our women’s collection. With so much demand and pressure, we introduced a collection just for women. Keeping the SOCKBOX argyle packaging, we switched it up a bit so couples could easily tell the difference, but still have that awesome feeling of a surprise.

Lots & Lots of Socks each month

What a great way to engage your team, or say thank you to your customers. In fact, that’s exactly what A&E Networks wanted to do – thank their customers. We worked directly with them to send thank you memberships across Canada. Our Corporate Gifting (Bulk Subscription) programme has evolved a lot since 2016 and now includes even more customization opportunities.

SOCKTOBER

October – Spurred on by a tweet one of our members posted that The Economist had posted nobody changed the world with novelty socks, we decided it was time to get Socktober back on the scene. We encouraged our members to donate gently used socks to Canadian Shelters with a goal of 500 pairs being donated.

Twelve Days of Socksmas

December – Having sold out of our Sock Lovers Advent Calendar® for the second year in a row, we came out with the half sized Twelve Days of Socksmas. This allowed us to also offer up a women’s collection. Design perfectly to be opened on Christmas, the Twelve Days of Socksmas also sold out in its first year.

Getting hitched?

Calling all Groomsmen, we’ve got you…err…your feet covered. Our Groomsmen programme launched. It kind of just makes sense. Awesome socks – all the same, or mixed up – for your wedding day, and then an ongoing thank you gift for the guys in your wedding party. What a way to continue celebrating your awesome day!

A Lifetime of Socks

April 1 – Some may have thought this was an April Fools Joke, but they’d be wrong. We came out with the Ultimate Sockslife™ – the cure for BS. What’s BS you ask? It’s a condition that many people suffer from.

First Design Contest

July – Our first ever international design competition opened. Over the course of the contest we received over 300 design submissions. Thousands of votes were cast to determine the top 20 submissions, then it was up to the judges to select the 3 winners that were then manufactured and shipped to our Sock of the Month members.

Did someone say Custom?

Yes they did. We’ve been looking at custom socks for a while, and we finally did it! Our first custom designed sock was pretty simple – corporate colours, and a repeating logo. We’ve now worked with many brands to design and manufacture much more intricate custom socks. As few as 50 pairs of quality, knit socks is all that’s needed to get started.

Hey Ladies

December – Our fourth edition of our Sock Lovers Advent Calendar® was our first edition women’s collection. In previous years we had women write in how awesome it was to get their partner a sock advent calendar, and were demanding one for themselves. We heard them and are happy to say it’s a permanent offering in our product line up every holiday season.

Movin’ on Up

March – We’re out of the (second) basement, and into our own 2700 square foot warehouse space.

Let’s END This

October – We’ve lost too many loved ones to cancer. We did a lot of research at SOCKBOX HQ to determine how we could impact change the most, with the goal to eradicate Cancer in our lifetime. That led us to a partnership with Canada’s leading Caner Research centre, and one of the top 5 in the world – Princess Margaret Cancer Centre located in Toronto, ON.

Rex Design Contest

Rex by SOCKBOX

March – Anyone can design and manufacture kids socks. We decided to do it different. Rex by SOCKBOX are socks for kids, by kids. And what kid doesn’t love a design contest? We received hundreds of entries from kids around the world. Shortly after, Rex by SOCKBOX was born.

Fundraising

Love what we sell? So do thousands of other people. We decided it was a perfect time to offer up a unique fundraising idea for sport clubs, schools, or any organization looking to be a little different.

Welcome Southern Friends

After years of complaining, we’re sorry. To all of our USA based members, welcome to the club.

Rex Starts Shipping

January – Remember that design contest back in 2020? Remember all those supply chain issues the world was having? That allowed us to finally get Rex by SOCKBOX start shipping.

Welcome to SOCKBOX

June – After years online only, we ventured out to the streets of Calgary for the return of Lilac Festival to test if a physical presence could work. We wanted to continue our surprise of awesome socks, and went with a 3-Pack Mystery Bag (similar to our Mystery Pack). It was great to meet some of our existing members, past members, and make friends with new ones. Suffice to say, we may just keep this on our calendar for years ahead.

The Future

There’s no crystal ball, Delorean, or way to truly know what will happen in the future. Our goal at SOCKBOX is to continue to provide quality, awesome socks each month, to thousands of members. To curate, and create the best Sock Lovers Advent Calendar® each year, and bring even more value with the 24 pairs of socks. We want to eradicate cancer in our lifetime, and we’re working at that through donations to world leading cancer research. Most importantly, we want to be happy, and we want you to be happy. To enjoy life, and have the best #sockslife one can have.