News   Apr 24, 2024
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St Lawrence Market

A corporate owned store and it's not paying rent? The chain is probably heading for bankruptcy. I see the Second Cup stock price is down 50% from February, though even back then the whole chain was valued at only $40M dollars. Now it's valued under $20M and the trend is distinctly to zero.

Second Cup is the coffee chain that wishes it was Starbucks. It was at one point in the 1990s Canada's answer to Starbucks. I recall going there in the late 1990s at the Eaton Centre in what was a kiosk on the second floor near to the entrance to 20 Queen St West. It was a small little shop with a bar and not much else. I do believe it was removed in the early 2000s when the mall underwent remodeling to add the Dundas exit.
 
Relating to Second Cup I think they over-expanded themselves. They are a Canadian Company that is past its prime here but decided to expand internationally.

In 2017 I visited London, UK and was surprised to see a Second Cup on Portobello Road which has since closed. I avoided it like the plague and went to a local cafe nearby.

As a Canadian, I was curious but as someone who has been there before I know it was not very good. The problem is they are stuck in the 1990s with their cheap pastries and flavored brew coffee. People want fancy drinks not hazelnut coffee or vanilla coffee. Second Cup reminds me alot of Central Perk.. that is not good.

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It's becoming common to see Second Cup closing up their shops in Toronto. A couple other notable spots to shutter within the past couple years are their former Annex location at Bloor West & Lippincott (across from a Starbucks too) and the one inside York Lanes @ York University.
 
The building permit database shows a few small signs of retail life in the St. Lawrence Market area amidst the pandemic.

85 Front St E, formerly Paramount Restaurant, will become an A & W.

77 Front St E, formerly a Bell cellular place, will become a cannibis shop called Meta Growth.
 
IIRC, 77 Front St. E. used to be a Hero's Burger before it became a Bell Cellular shop. Seems like a big footprint for A&W to take over Paramount?
 
Yes, looks great and still not finished. They have several more days of adjusting angles etc and a few minutes ago were starting to also turn on the 'floodlights' on the new tall poles too. Section 37 $$$ (heritage lighting) at work.
 
Yes, looks great and still not finished. They have several more days of adjusting angles etc and a few minutes ago were starting to also turn on the 'floodlights' on the new tall poles too. Section 37 $$$ (heritage lighting) at work.
I’m happy to hear that because there’s one uplight that doesn’t seem to be working on the north side of the spire. It’s driving me nuts. Lol
 
June 17 - early morning

(Can you spot the light on the spire's north side that's not working? DSC, can you contact the powers that be about it?)

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I do not think we need do anything about the missing (or mis-directed) light - at least not yet. The site was swarming with lighting folk last night and even in your photo I think that some others, like the 'pole lights' on west side, are not all lit yet. I suspect there will be more checking and adjusting tonight but we shall see.
Your photo also shows the heritage lighting of St Lawrence Hall, which was the first of the public buildings in St Lawrence to be properly lit. The St Lawrence Market was lit last fall and the Young Peoples Theatre on Front is next in line. All paid for with Section 37 "heritage lighting' funds from adjacent developments.
 

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