Toronto Union Station Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | NORR

I finally got a chance, in the daytime, to take a good look around the whole thing.

I have to say, it's rather disappointing. The impression I got (a decade or so ago), was that the retail would be more mixed. All we've got is restaurants a massive food court, with very few exceptions.

The one place of interest to me is that Japanese(?) shop. But I was very unimpressed that they don't take cash for even a $5 purchase (WTAF?). So I'll avoid them on principle - though the the sushi triangles are excellent and fresh!

I know know that the answer to my previous query of where to find milk at 11 pm is the one little newsagent (or whatever we call them now they don't have news) on the main floor in the York Concourse. Only in 500 mL boxes, but that's enough for a cup of tea in the morning; and some cereal if you get a couple.

It's amazing that there was such a latent demand for food there.
 
Cash is no longer king. It makes no sense for a place like that to take cash. It's so expensive to handle compared to cards and burdens your employees with a ton of extra work.

It's packed now at lunch time. A few months ago it was a good option if you worked in the path, but there are lineups at every place every day now.
 
evandyk said:
Cash is no longer king. It makes no sense for a place like that to take cash. It's so expensive to handle compared to cards and burdens your employees with a ton of extra work.
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And yet some other places will charge a % fee to use Visa, and/or a fee to use debit.

It makes no sense not to have cash. And disenfranchises part of society. I'd send my 10-year old around the corner to the store occasionally to get milk or something.
 
nfitz said:
And yet some other places will charge a % fee to use Visa, and/or a fee to use debit.

It makes no sense not to have cash. And disenfranchises part of society. I'd send my 10-year old around the corner to the store occasionally to get milk or something.
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That's because the owners handle the cash and don't see cash handling as an expense (which it is - probably much greater than credit and debit card fees if you assign a value to the time spent doing it).

It does disenfranchise some people, particularly low income and unhoused people who are much less likely to have bank accounts (some estimates are that's a million people in Canada). But since less than 10% of transactions in Canada are in cash, and that number is declining rapidly, it's probably best to move on and figure out how we can help those people, rather than clinging to cash.
 
evandyk said:
That's because the owners handle the cash and don't see cash handling as an expense (which it is - probably much greater than credit and debit card fees if you assign a value to the time spent doing it).

It does disenfranchise some people, particularly low income and unhoused people who are much less likely to have bank accounts (some estimates are that's a million people in Canada). But since less than 10% of transactions in Canada are in cash, and that number is declining rapidly, it's probably best to move on and figure out how we can help those people, rather than clinging to cash.
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Any corporation that is more worried by a few cents extra profit, rather than customer service and convenience, is never going to be my first choice. It's not like they are charging bargain basement prices!
 
mettle said:
where in union station do you think it will go?
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rdaner said:
Is the large spot to the east of the Bay food hall leased
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Looks like you’re spot on, according to Retail Insider
 
evandyk said:
Cash is no longer king. It makes no sense for a place like that to take cash. It's so expensive to handle compared to cards and burdens your employees with a ton of extra work.

It's packed now at lunch time. A few months ago it was a good option if you worked in the path, but there are lineups at every place every day now.
Click to expand...

Cash will always be king. For small businesses anyway. Credit card/debit/ machines and processing fees cost small businesses thousands of dollars a year. Only the banks benefit from a cashless society/economy.
 
gabe said:
Cash will always be king. For small businesses anyway. Credit card/debit/ machines and processing fees cost small businesses thousands of dollars a year. Only the banks benefit from a cashless society/economy.
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Well, banks…and customers. I’m not as principled as others on the issue, but it’s rare I patron stores that don’t take card simply because I don’t carry cash or a wallet with me.

I either pay with my watch or I walk away
 
nfitz said:
I finally got a chance, in the daytime, to take a good look around the whole thing.

I have to say, it's rather disappointing. The impression I got (a decade or so ago), was that the retail would be more mixed. All we've got is restaurants a massive food court, with very few exceptions.

The one place of interest to me is that Japanese(?) shop. But I was very unimpressed that they don't take cash for even a $5 purchase (WTAF?). So I'll avoid them on principle - though the the sushi triangles are excellent and fresh!

I know know that the answer to my previous query of where to find milk at 11 pm is the one little newsagent (or whatever we call them now they don't have news) on the main floor in the York Concourse. Only in 500 mL boxes, but that's enough for a cup of tea in the morning; and some cereal if you get a couple.

It's amazing that there was such a latent demand for food there.
Click to expand...


I hear ya. I remember the renders from the early 2010's envisioned the lower Bay area as more of a mall, or extension of the type of retail you might see in the PATH network (clothing, electronics, knick knacks, light groceries, etc). Thing is retail has changed since 2010. Outside of food I don't think you'd see much other type of retail and if you did I'd imagine it would be more of a flagship store thing to give the brand visibility rather than being actually profitable. For example I highly doubt the Decathlon and Nespresso locations in Union are very profitable.
 
nfitz said:
I finally got a chance, in the daytime, to take a good look around the whole thing.

I have to say, it's rather disappointing. The impression I got (a decade or so ago), was that the retail would be more mixed. All we've got is restaurants a massive food court, with very few exceptions.

The one place of interest to me is that Japanese(?) shop. But I was very unimpressed that they don't take cash for even a $5 purchase (WTAF?). So I'll avoid them on principle - though the the sushi triangles are excellent and fresh!

I know know that the answer to my previous query of where to find milk at 11 pm is the one little newsagent (or whatever we call them now they don't have news) on the main floor in the York Concourse. Only in 500 mL boxes, but that's enough for a cup of tea in the morning; and some cereal if you get a couple.

It's amazing that there was such a latent demand for food there.
Click to expand...

While its a bit under-representative on the non-food side, there is some diversity in the curation.

There is cosmetics (Sephora); Sporting Goods (Decathlon), Florist (Lena's), souvenirs (Lidz), Barbers (Cabin), Housewares/Glassware (Cocktail Emporium), Banking (TD), Toys (Gashapon) Jewellery (Gemlet) plus a news stand, a dental office, and the food court, and resto options, plus some psedo-grocery, and the LCBO and Fika (Cannabis).

There was going to be full grocery at one point.........and that may yet come to pass......
 
gabe said:
Cash will always be king. For small businesses anyway. Credit card/debit/ machines and processing fees cost small businesses thousands of dollars a year. Only the banks benefit from a cashless society/economy.
Click to expand...
Not since the pandemic.
nfitz said:
I finally got a chance, in the daytime, to take a good look around the whole thing.

I have to say, it's rather disappointing. The impression I got (a decade or so ago), was that the retail would be more mixed. All we've got is restaurants a massive food court, with very few exceptions.

The one place of interest to me is that Japanese(?) shop. But I was very unimpressed that they don't take cash for even a $5 purchase (WTAF?). So I'll avoid them on principle - though the the sushi triangles are excellent and fresh!

I know know that the answer to my previous query of where to find milk at 11 pm is the one little newsagent (or whatever we call them now they don't have news) on the main floor in the York Concourse. Only in 500 mL boxes, but that's enough for a cup of tea in the morning; and some cereal if you get a couple.

It's amazing that there was such a latent demand for food there.
Click to expand...
It's a great mix of lifestyle brands and fast food - they serve commuters and the arena/concert goer crowd. Kibo deals are work (50%) are also great for a grab and go dinner and cashless makes the transactions faster.

This reminds me of people here thinking anything that isn't a Harveys is elitist. They just mean not-white.
 
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