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Queen West Retail Scene

  • Thread starter TdotTrickyRicky
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TdotTrickyRicky

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An unrelated issue, I was down on Queen street the other day and I'm really amazed at how fast the area is shifting west. Literally, stores and restaurants that once were in the Spadina to university area are popping up like mushrooms west of Spadina and now even west of Bathurst up to Trinity-Bellwoods park. All are being replaced by upper-middle end chains. I wouldn't be surprised if there was something like a 50 percent turn around on the spadina to university stretch in the last 5 years.
 
It's like how Greenwich Village and SoHO in NY are getting more and more gentrified, or I guess Yorkville decades ago...The Gap, Club Monaco, Zara are all on QW nowadays, and the more independent stores are moving westward to West Queen West. I guess it's just the cycle of gentrification. I think there was an section in the Star this weekend about how Ossington was getting progressively trendy, like the new College/Cabbagetown/Riverdale.
 
well, soho was long gone years ago...

the village is getting pretty high-end as well. i've been hunting for a summer sublet recently, and, oddly enough, i'm finding that the highest rents in manhattan are in greenwich, tribeca, and soho--not on the UES/UWS, which is a HUGE change.

funny, i had never been on the now-slowly-becoming-cool stretch of ossington until last summer...and at the time i remember thinking to myself how the strip looked like it had a lot of potential.
 
"the village is getting pretty high-end as well."

It's been expensive for quite a while now - there are very, very few areas below 96th that are not high-end these days.

There's a real estate agent on the east side of Sullivan just south of Bleecker who sometimes has good deals in the village (my friend got a studio on West 4th for $1200/month, which - absurdly - is a bargain). There's an old motorbike in the storefront window. Trivia: Richard Gere lives in one of the exceptionally old townhouses across the street, which apparently were built to house some of Washington's troops.


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"Wizards of Ossington"


Creative, funky shops, cafes and galleries have sprung up on a previously obscure street.

DAPHNE GORDON
LIFE WRITER
Apr. 30, 2005

www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs...4640111057


Ossington is the new Queen.

"Even a year ago, if you said you were going to open a book store on Ossington, people would have thought you were crazy," says Tim Hanna, who saw the street's inner beauty and opened Babel, a used book and CD shop, six months ago.

"I love this stretch of the road," he says of the section of Ossington between Queen and Dundas Sts. W., where he and several other retailers have set up shop over the past few months, transforming the area from an unnoticed thoroughfare for cars to a funky and friendly little retail strip that invites shoppers to stroll.

"It's a bit rough around the edges, maybe," he says, looking out the front window of his shop. "But because of the gentrification of Queen St., people are feeling nostalgic for the old Queen St., the way it used to be. Rents have quadrupled on Queen. It's done; it's impossible to do something there. It's fun to go the other way," he says, noting the strange lack of north-south streets in Toronto with commercial zoning.

Indeed, the neighbourhood's reputation has suffered in the past. Its proximity to the Queen St. site of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Services, as well as a 2003 shooting at a karaoke bar that was linked to gang activity didn't exactly encourage the foot traffic that helps create a healthy shopping area.

A few pioneer retailers, such as clothing designer Deborah Korosec of Studio Gang, had been toughing it on the street for years. But when a large condo development started taking shape on the east side of Ossington Ave. last year, other retailers began noticing the area's potential.

Over the past year, several stores, art galleries, bars and restaurants have opened on the street. A theatre (Alley Theatre Workshop, 12 Ossington Ave.), a dance studio (MBS Performing Arts Institute, 100A Ossington Ave.) and a yoga studio (Yoga- Space, 148 Ossington Ave.) have also helped build buzz.

Now there's a real feeling of neighbourhood on Ossington. The shop owners, many of whom work in their stores daily, seem to know each other and enthusiastically refer shoppers to other hot spots on the street.

There's still improvement to be done, says Wynter Rosen, who, along with three friends, recently opened Sugarpants (63 Ossington Ave.), an eclectic emporium that sells a little bit of everything from art to ice cream.

Rosen is lobbying to have Ossington cleaned up. She has applied for a government grant that will allow her to hire a student to paint murals on large walls in the neighbourhood. It's part of an attempt to fight graffiti, a problem that has plagued the area for years.

She's also lobbying City Councillor Joe Pantalone for other improvements, including more street lights and better sidewalk cleaning.

In the meantime, there's a real feeling of discovering a hidden gem when shopping on Ossington. Personal service, reasonable prices and lots of parking make it a boon to browsers on a sunny Saturday.

But if you take a tour of nouveau Ossington on a weekday, be sure to call ahead, since many shops in the neighbourhood keep irregular hours.


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"Where to eat"


Choice goes from organic to fries And there are drinking spots, too

DAPHNE GORDON
LIFE WRITER
Apr. 30, 2005

www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs...alogin=yes


There's no lack of yummy spots to stop for a snack on Ossington Ave.

Get Real! (135 Ossington Ave.) is one of the yummiest. With a café selling beans and brew from Kensington Market's mecca for the dark stuff, Ideal Coffee, plus a selection of organic and wheat-free baked goods, it's become the noshing spot for the many granolas who visit the neighbourhood to take classes at nearby YogaSpace (148 Ossington Ave.)

With a few small tables for lingering over coffee and a short menu of healthy salads and sandwiches, Get Real! is a great place to stop for a high-energy snack during a shopping trip to the neighbourhood.

While you're there, pick up a few items to take home from among the selection of organic groceries and take-home food, many of them made locally.

There are lots of other choices.

Portuguese delis have been outposts on Ossington since long before its recent renaissance. At Venezia Bakery (114 Ossington Ave.), creamy custard tarts (85 cents) are the order of the day. The nearby Columbia Bakery (188 Ossington Ave.) offers tuna, chicken and egg sandwiches for $3 each. Served on chewy Portuguese buns, they're the perfect on-the-go snack.

If a substantial meal is what you're hankering for, the Crooked Star Lounge (202 Ossington Ave.) is the place for a midday stop. Burgers, fries and other pub food make up the menu, and the décor is English pub crossed with urban lounge. Sunday brunch is served à la Coronation Street and in the evening, watch for live entertainment by the likes of local blues and country singer/songwriter Andrew Penner.

If a straight-up drink is required after maxing out the credit card, Sweaty Betty's (13 Ossington Ave.) will provide. A funky little hole in the wall with a friendly vibe and a cute bartender who admits he couldn't make a fancy mixed drink if his life depended on it, SB's is the hangout of choice for artists and musicians who can't afford the new Queen St. W.

For takeout, try the Rua Vang Golden Turtle (125 Ossington Ave.), a clean and friendly Vietnamese joint with killer pho for less than $5. It's been given the thumbs up by the pickiest eater I know, Toronto Star food editor Jennifer Bain.
 
I was in New York a few weeks ago and I went down to Soho to walk around. Guess what I saw: Gap, Old Navy, Athlete's World, Le Chateau, Club Monocco, at least two H&Ms, HMV, Starbucks, Banana Republic, an Apple store....you get the idea. Sure there were where a few local gems but heck, I could have gone to Fairview Mall and seen much the same.
 
Other cities in Canada must hate us for thinking an H&M makes their neighbourhood untrendy!
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There goes the 'hood

Rising rents and rumours of H&M's move to Queen West leave locals mourning their once-hip strip

DEIRDRE KELLY

It's a familiar scene these days on Queen Street West: Long-time customers of the strip's funky indie businesses stop by to shop and discover a "Going out of business" sign in the window.

This week, it was Joan Frick's turn for a rude awakening. The artist and Queen West resident was found picking through the remains of Circa Forty, a vintage clothing store that after 14 years is closing in the wake of rising rent and rumours that Swedish fashion retailer H&M is expanding into the area. The move swells the ranks of foreign big-box stores such as Zara and HMV, which even now are altering the distinctive character of the Queen West streetscape.

After hearing the news, Ms. Frick began looking not just for a bargain but for a shared memory, a memento, of the halcyon days when Queen West was alternative and not mainstream, authentic and not a runway knock-off.

"The cool is no longer here," she griped. "It used to be a centre for artists and creativity and now it's becoming a shopping mall. And I don't like shopping malls."

Proprietor Philip Abtan, flanked by a canary yellow cocktail sweater festooned with sequins, agreed. "Queen Street is unique," he said. "I would call this one of the most unique streets in North America."

But the scene is changing fast. His shop had long been a fixture on the burgeoning strip, selling retro chic to poor but thread-proud locals as well as to the rich and mega-rich, including out-of-town visitors like Bruce Springsteen and Sharon Stone.

But with the arrival of commercial heavyweights to the area, Mr. Abtan has seen his rent steadily rise, from $2,300 a month two years ago to $3,000 last year. Now it's about to take a far bigger leap.

"My landlord said 30 days or $5,600. I took the 30 days."

He is setting up a new business, a furniture store, in the Vaughan Mills shopping mall north of the city. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," he said.

Ms. Frick looked up wide-eyed from the faded cognac leather jacket she was fingering. "My estimation of you has just dropped considerably."

But Mr. Abtan said he is not a sellout. He's a realist. Last Sunday, he was able to verify talk of H&M's imminent arrival to the strip when, ironically, one of the company's employees came to pick out a little something for herself from his funky store -- at grossly discounted moving-sale prices.

She told him the firm had taken over the building that used to house Tortilla Flats, along with a handful of small businesses, and it planned to build a new three-storey store on the site.

Tortilla Flats manager Duane Feeley said the restaurant was forced out of its space just east of Spadina last April when landlords Living Property Management wanted to raise its rent from $37.50 a square foot to between $75 and $100 a square foot.

"Rent is becoming too high for the strip," he said. "It is becoming the new Yorkville.

"I think if H&M comes to Queen Street, it will become an outdoor mall."

Speaking by phone from Geneva, H&M spokesman Christian Bagnoud wouldn't confirm the company's plans, but enthusiastically endorsed Queen West as being where the company wanted to amplify a Toronto presence that already includes tony Bloor Street West and malls like the Eaton Centre, Yorkdale and Sherway Gardens.

"We don't go to areas that we don't think are the best. Queen West is a good location," he said.

Still, in Mr. Abtan's view, the appeal may be short-lived. "What people are saying, " he said, "is that the street is changing into that corporate Yorkdale type of atmosphere -- that it is losing its uniqueness."

He was perched on a stool that afforded him an unobstructed view of his fluid subject. Outside, the "crazies" commingled with the corporate kingpins, all of them clutching Styrofoam cups of coffee. Mr. Abtan pointed out the diversity and worried that with more gentrification, the area will lose its character.

Hip seems already to be losing the battle to the forces of homogeneity. Mr. Abtan said the rumour mill is again churning, this time with news that Urban Outfitters is moving in on the south side of Queen West, at Augusta.

If true, it means that the commercialization of Queen is migrating farther westward, well past Spadina and into territory that, until last year's opening of an American Apparel store, has remained safely beyond reach of the multinationals.

Several blocks west of Bathurst at the Kama Kazi clothing boutique, owners Debra and Fred Antwi said they believe they're in the new sweet spot.

"People are looking for the old Queen West vibe," Mr. Antwi said. "They come in here and say, 'Oh, here it is, we thought it was gone.' "

Still, cities and their streets lead organic lives, subject to change. And so Queen Street will evolve as well its grasp on cool, Edward Majkut said as he walked out of Circa Forty with a bag of clothing Mr. Abtan had sold him for less than $12. He knew Queen Street before it was Queen Street and now he is seeing it at the tail end.

"Centres of cool have a short lifespan," Mr. Majkut said. "They are in places where no one wants, initially, to go, and then they are where everyone wants to go and so they cease being cool.

"That, my friend, is life."
 
Queen West retail developments

Hey,

I walk down Queen West between John and Spadina everyday and notice almost every month a new construction site starting up. Does anyone know what these developments are?

Ones I can remember:

1) Old Tortilla Flats building
2) Across the street beside FCUK
3) further down near oakley (i think this is adidas)
4) on either side of foot locker near the old caban.

Any ideas what's going in?

thanks!
 
1.) I believe this the new H/M
4.) On the east side of Foot Locker a small boutique hotel is proposed on the notice out front
 
Gap at Queen and Peter is closed! That's the second one downtown in two or so months that's closed (after Yonge & Dundas)! I wonder if they're moving elsewhere, renovating or just in trouble? I was by yesterday, and the windows were papered over. The sign was still up though, unlike Y&D.
 
Another Gap closing? Meh. I don't think anyone will miss it.
 
That would be pretty funny about the gap on Queen. I just noticed that today as well.

I wonder if anything good will go in there. Great space there. Probably one of the most prominent places for a store along there.
 
Gap

The Gap is renovating the Queen Store as well as Yorkdale and Bayview Village. All will be closed until the summer I think.
 

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