Back in 2001, no Torontonian could have predicted the impact the Drake Hotel was to make on Parkdale -- an area that was otherwise avoided unless you were looking to share a needle or purchase some crack – and eventually the whole Toronto arts scene. Now, when we think of Parkdale, we don't immediately conjure images of women with dripping mascara following greasy haired men with meth lesions, rather we think of portfolio-toting gads-about-town and spike-haired hipstresses, cruising by in basket bedecked bicyles.






It is true, Parkdale has cleaned up its act, but for me, it's all just a little bit cliché. And, as it turns out, I'm not the only one who thinks that way. Industrious owners of Toronto's new bohemo-hub, Industtrees, have decided to move the arts further westward – perhaps because co-owner Patrick Guilbault has Winnipeg roots, or maybe just because the whole Parkdale thing has lost what it was about in the first place – art, affordability and community.




Industrees, a tiny 340 square-foot shop at the corner of Lansdowne and College is part gallery space, part video store, part music shop, part bookstore and part boutique and yet somehow remains minimal, uncluttered and quite frankly adorable. The square room, functionally lit by streaming sunlight from the storefront's two floor-to-ceiling windows, is divided neatly into Ikea-generation sections – with one wall being devoted entirely to itinerant installations, rotated on a 4-week cycle.



Industtrees remaining space is carefully curated, featuring unique gift items like the '1-BIT MUSIC' - a translucent CD case with a headphone jack on the side that plays 40 minutes of low-fi 1-bit electronic music; rare DVD's and CD's, hand-selected by co-owner and self-proclaimed "movie-geek," Mark Di Giovanni, who has his own music label, Lonely Robot; and whatever, intentionally unpolished, pieces of art that might be available on consignment on any given day.

For now, Industtrees is the only shop of it's kind in an area that tends to be more populated by families than freethinkers. But I imagine that is about to change. – Erin Hershberg

Industtrees, 1234 College St.
Toronto, Ontario
416-273-8075
Open Daily: 1:00pm – 7:00pm