What a man and what a life. I miss that generation of old Jewish entrepeneurs: guys who started off with little more than the clothes on their backs and worked their way up to become millionaires while never forgetting where they came from. I'm in the office holding back tears now.
Not many people gave as much to the city as he did, especially with th construction of the Princess of Wales Theatre, the first venue built with private money in about 100 years. He'll be badly missed.
I expect Winners carries a lot of the kind of merchandise he used to sell. But are there still enough people doing one-stop shopping for Roach Motels, rancid tinned tuna, and mixing bowls from China to keep Honest Ed's going?
We've lost one of Toronto's great city builders and original characters.
Regarding the Honest Ed's store I suspect the only reason it is still here is out of respect for Ed Mirvish. With his passing I would be surprised if the site was not re-developed within 5 years.
I give the store 2-3 years. It would take a long time for it to close down given the sheer size of the place. They're still selling items from Ed's restaurants on the second floor.
What happened to Ed's restaurants, anyway? They must have been quite popular at one time.