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Shoppers Drug Mart

I wish they would re-do the horrible one at the corner of Queen and Carlaw. It is disgusting!

It's clearly a redevelopment site - that's why no $ has been spent on that location. They won't redo that store -- it will be demolished, a condo will be built, and a new Shoppers will open on the ground floor, I imagine.
 
and not to mention when they do build in urban areas, their stores *generally* respect the streetscape a lot better than most national retailers... the new Yonge and College store is probably the best example of that... it's totally re-animated that corner. (Though Baroli did a fine job back then too)

...and aren't they about to go in on the Danforth between Broadview and Chester? That looks like that will be another one-floor high building, when it should be something more like the Ideal Condo down on College. Single floor retail buildings on streets like the Danforth should be absolutely verboten in this city - get some minimum coverage development bylaws enacted now!

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As always, I'm semi-accepting, on account of such single-storeyers being "taxpayers" that can be readily knocked down once condo/intensification time comes...
 
For whatever reason, Shoppers DM and their ilk, like Rogers Video, seem to have no interest in putting up buildings that are any larger than what would suit their own needs.

You can't tell me that Shoppers new spot on the Danforth wouldn't be economically viable as a multi-use complex now? People would definitely buy into something like College Street's Ideal condo were that being proposed for this site.

The single storey Rogers location that irks me specifically is the one at the sw corner of Bloor and Royal York, built at the same time as the seven storey Great Gulf building across the street. Rogers should have built something similar to that too.

These are all on the subway line for goodness sake...

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For whatever reason, Shoppers DM and their ilk, like Rogers Video, seem to have no interest in putting up buildings that are any larger than what would suit their own needs.

You can't tell me that Shoppers new spot on the Danforth wouldn't be economically viable as a multi-use complex now? People would definitely buy into something like College Street's Ideal condo were that being proposed for this site.

The single storey Rogers location that irks me specifically is the one at the sw corner of Bloor and Royal York, built at the same time as the seven storey Great Gulf building across the street. Rogers should have built something similar to that too.

These are all on the subway line for goodness sake...

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Agreed. And it especially galling that Shoppers is developing a site on the subway with suburban densities at the same time that Shoppers is busy painting itself green through its eco and organic products.

You can only blame Rogers and Shoppers to a certain extent, however. The City ought to have amended its zoning some time ago to require certain heights and densities along retail corridors, and it has done squat. To encourage this sort of thing, the Province amended the Planning Act to clarify that the power to zone includes the power to impose minimum densities and heights (and those clarifying amendments have been in affect since Jan 1 2007). Still, the City has done next to nothing.

BTW, Shoppers's eco-friendly cleaning products (the in-house brand) are anything but.
 
BTW, Shoppers's eco-friendly cleaning products (the in-house brand) are anything but.

From NOW:

pagetitle-ecoholic.png
By Adria Vasil


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2008/03/19

Q: What do you think of cleaning products that market themselves as eco-friendly, like Method, Melaleuca and Clorox’s new green line?
A: The jig is up. I have a deep, dark columnist confession. These are actually three separate questions from three equally inquisitive readers merged into one. I’m letting you in on this little secret because, truth is, this query is just the tip of the Titanic-sinking iceberg in terms of probing e-mails from Ecoholics nationwide wondering if the cleaners under their sinks are all they’re advertised to be.
And there’s plenty of reason to be leery. According to a hot-off-the-press investigation by the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), many cleaners (and beauty products) advertised as organic contain alarming levels of the known carcinogenic contaminant 1,4-dioxane. Dish soap is the worst offender (Citrus Magic dish soap’s level is off the charts). Check out Organicconsumers.org/bodycare for details on products to avoid (or look for).
One brand that tested positive for 1, 4-dioxane was Method. These cleaners have been featured in Vanity Fair and are available here at Shoppers Drug Mart. They’re slickly packaged, and their main claim to green fame is that they’re biodegradable. That’s a good thing, if those claims are certified. (Method says it is third-party-tested to biodegrade 60 per cent or more within 28 days but offers no certification symbols.)
The other annoying thing is that, like many cleaners, Method fails to list ingredients on the label, and an online search pulls up vagaries like “naturally derived surfactants.â€
Method does come clean about many things in its extensive online FAQ section (something you always want to check on corporate sites), like its use of petrol-based ingredients and some synthetic chems, but the company swears it only uses the nontoxic kind. It may not use naughty triclosan, phosphates or parabens, but it does fess up to sudsy sodium lauryl sulfate, an irritant many crunchies try to avoid, and suspiciously synthetic fragrances. (That explains why I get a headache just sitting near an open bottle of Method stuff.)
FYI, the generic Method rip-off, Shoppers’ in-house Bio-Life brand, is riddled with so much potent synthetic scent that we had to quarantine the fabric softener samples Shoppers sent to NOW. Even our box of Clorox Green Works didn’t trigger headaches like the above two.
Clorox does deserve a good knuckle-rapping for, again, not listing ingredients on the label, but a pretty specific list online at least tells you the surfactant is alkyl polyglucoside. (You wouldn’t want to squirt this shit in your eye, but it is considered more biodegradable than other agents.) The product passed OCA’s 1,4-dioxane testing and gets a thumbs-up from the U.S. Sierra Club (which, admittedly, Sierra has gotten some flak for). Oh, and Clorox claims Green Works’ ingredients range from 99 to 99.9 per cent natural, but “naturally derived†is more accurate.
Melaleuca is much more, well, mysterious. If you haven’t heard of it, you’re not alone. It’s actually a consumer-direct marketing operation (like Avon), and a whole $780 million Melaleuca world out there pushes what it calls wellness products. But red flags pop up when I spot bioaccumulative triclosan and questionable aluminum in Melaleuca deodorants.
The company claims its cleaning formulas make “EcoSense†and are free of big baddies like bleach, phosphates and ammonia. But there’s no backup for biodegradability claims, and the Tub & Tile spray label, for instance, says only “naturally derived detergents and solvents.†Hmm. Well, that’s useful.
A call to Melaleuca’s product info line results in more talk of proprietary ingredients but reveals that sodium lauryl sulfate and polyethylene glycol are among them. (That last one has been linked to 1,4-dioxane.)
Shaklee is another consumer-direct line of products readers have asked about. It’s not in stores, but has a more public profile thanks to multiple Oprah plugs. It’s been around since the 50s, has funded lots of impressive eco projects (plus it’s been certified carbon-neutral since 2000), so why can’t the company share its ingredient list?
Telling us it’s proprietary doesn’t inspire much confidence, but the company does guarantee that its products are free of about 20 major cleaning toxins. I’ve also seen Shaklee trade show demo-ers swallow some of the stuff to show just how nontoxic it is. FYI, you need to buy a $15 membership to order the goods.
Bottom line: ask lots of questions, and if you’re uncomfortable with a company’s hush-hush ways, turn to brands that happily give you the real dirt on their contents. And remember, vinegar and baking soda ain’t hiding a thing.
 
The single storey Rogers location that irks me specifically is the one at the sw corner of Bloor and Royal York, built at the same time as the seven storey Great Gulf building across the street. Rogers should have built something similar to that too.

These are all on the subway line for goodness sake...
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To offer an easy libertarian-planning alibi, taxpayer buildings have been built across from/adjacent to larger/taller/denser edifices for eons, i.e. don't panic simply because something more substantial ain't being built *now*.

Besides, the banality of Rogers is its own best virtue in this regard, i.e. nobody'll weep once it's inevitably demolished in the name of intensification, perhaps sooner rather than later. (A lesson in the virtues of urban impermanence.)
 
I hope to see some PC Black Label at the Shoppers up the street. I accidentally bought PC BL Normandy Butter in a rush at MLG once, and was instantly converted. Though I did wonder why the hell my butter was 7 bucks at the checkout. Don't try that stuff unless you are prepared to spend $7 every time you need butter for the duration of your life. I'm going broke on condiments.

Looking at the ticker, I really envy anybody who has money invested in Loblaws right now
 
This probably means an end to Simply Food at Shoppers. Quo might go too (replaced by Joe Fresh Beauty).
 
Simply Food is garbage IMO. Their frozen food line is just terrible, even by frozen food standards - it is just bland wet and often rubbery matter. The only thing they do right is animal crackers, which would be awesome if I was 7, but alas..
 
I hope to see some PC Black Label at the Shoppers up the street. I accidentally bought PC BL Normandy Butter in a rush at MLG once, and was instantly converted. Though I did wonder why the hell my butter was 7 bucks at the checkout. Don't try that stuff unless you are prepared to spend $7 every time you need butter for the duration of your life. I'm going broke on condiments.

Looking at the ticker, I really envy anybody who has money invested in Loblaws right now

OMG you're right my George Weston stock was up 4% today!
 

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