Toronto Shopping

Paloranta Opens on Queen West

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:17:20 -0500

[CDATA[Paloranta Art & Furnishing Inc., located at the quieter end of Queen West, specializes in Scandanavian art and design. ]]

The 8th Annual Wedding Show Hits Toronto in January

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:30:32 -0500

[CDATA[The 8th annual Wedding Show at the Carlu Hotel in downtown Toronto is set for January 9 11, 2009. This is a relief for people like me, who often accompany brides-to-be on wedding-related errands. (I imagine it is a relief for the brides, as well.) Think of it like a big mall, only with less garish lighting, and no food court: a series of boutiques dedicated to wedding-related details (cakes and photographers and florists and suits and make-up artists and the list goes on and on.) Only all the boutiques are hand-selected in such a way as to balance out the services offered. ]]

Philip Sparks Opens Saturday-Only Studio-Slash-Shop

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:45:44 -0500

[CDATA[Toronto-based men's clothing designer Philip Sparks' new retail outlet housed in his studio-slash-showroom is only open on Saturdays. This is understandable; during the rest of the week, the space serves as Sparks' design studio and workspace; of course he doesn't want fans crawling all over him while he works. But it's a shame for the rest of us, with only six hours a week to carefully comb through the few racks that crowd the small open-space area. While Sparks' clothes are available at various stores around Canada (notably, in Toronto and Vancouver, at Holt Renfrew,) Sparks' studio is the only place where you can see the whole collection at once. ]]

The One of a Kind Show: A Shopper's Dream

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:49:09 -0500

[CDATA[The One of a Kind Show, running from Nov. 27th to Dec. 7th, is a shoppers dream. Like a mall, it has many different products for sale under one roof; unlike the Eaton Center, however, all the products are, as the title of the show suggests, unique. The artists, craftspeople, and designers involved in the One of a Kind Show are not selling their products at the Bay; if you want to find them, you have to know the boutiques of your city and the more up-to-date websites. The One of a Kind Show eliminates all that extra work, which is tedious especially during the cold winter months, and gathers a wide variety of unique, boutique-y products in one space. ]]

T-Mobile G1 Arrives

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:56:37 -0400

[CDATA[Phone launches abound. From this summer's mass hysteria over the 3G iPhone to the BlackBerry Bold's sleeper, cult-ish arrival, hotly-tipped new handsets hit stores on a monthly basis. Already, new unveilings have gradually become underwhelming. However, T-Mobile's G1 should spur appropriate excitement. ]]

Green Shag Bespoke hits Queen Street Toronto

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:35:29 -0400

[CDATA[A few years ago, an ambitious young label named Green Shag snuck up on the scene with custom bespoke creations and quirky mens accessories. Tongues are wagging yet again, as Green Shag Bespoke has jumped out of its Richmond Street studio location and into its first store, on Queen Street. ]]

BlackBerry Bold Quietly Arrives

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:43:12 -0400

[CDATA[Research in Motion's BlackBerry Bold debuted today and, though it did not generate the same hysteria as its Apple rival, the iPhone, it did emerge to largely positive reviews. Why such a relatively quiet landing? ]]

Tom Ford Opens Second Store

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:05:16 -0400

[CDATA[It's hard to find a gay man who so many straight women lust after, even if he does wear his shirts excessively unbuttoned. Tom Ford, formerly the chief designer at Gucci, where he transformed the brand and lifted its sales out of the gutter, is simply a designing idol. Unlike the Gallianos and Lagerfelds of the world (I'm probably going to get fan slapped for saying this), Ford is someone whose style is classic and elegant, without being silly or over the top. With his simple uniform of a good dark suit and that unbuttoned shirt, Ford is clearly in it for the good design. But when you've had the kind of success that he has, good design don't come cheap. So it's not so shocking that his second store is both utterly fantastic but houses some wares only Italian royalty could afford. Yet, even facing a recession, Ford's original New York store on Madison Avenue managed to beat sales budgets by 100% in its first year. ]]

Shared Clothing Launches Pop-up Shoppe

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:20:46 -0400

[CDATA[Pop up shops: here one day, gone the next. Often, it's much to the disgruntlement of the folks who had grown affectionate for the brand which had spent a fleeting moment in their city. So is the case with Souvenir Dete (also known as the Shared Shoppe), a limited edition store (they're only around until the end of August) brought to you by the Canadian manufactured, socially conscious folks at Shared. Just be happy you're getting the shop at all. Formerly only a wholesaler, the company has decided to test the Toronto waters and see whether we'll be hankering for some more. ]]

The Best of Toronto Markets

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:55:28 -0400

[CDATA[In 1780, the first farmer's market in the province was held in Kingston, Ontario. It started with a bunch of stir crazy farmers starved for human contact. Their inner party people had been suppressed by their country bumpkin wives and the animals who were both unable to carry a conversation and doomed to the dinner table, preventing any sort of close relationship from forming. Craving the wild city life, farmer's got on their horse and buggies and headed for Kingston, and its love parade of carrots, rutabaga, and parsnips. The public went crazy for both the produce, and its cover as an excuse for human contact. ]]