A little after midnight we were walking south on Bathurst, rounded the Bloor Pizza Pizza corner and saw a glow from the window of Honest Ed’s. My first thought (for a split second) was “art installation” because it was calm and quiet (and Ed’s has given their windows over to art before) but it was quickly evident it was real and inside the window display. Walking over, people were already on the phone to 911, so I took photos. The pictures that follow occur over only about 3 minutes. That time frame includes: when the fire was small and a handful of people were around -> a police car showing up telling them to move back -> the the glass popping, exploding and shattering (Mike Smith, who writes for Now Magazine, was also walking by and just suggested to me via Facebook it may have been the sound of exploding wine bottles from the Wine Rack store inside) -> the fire licking up at the vernacular signage (…ONCE IN A LIFETIME SOMETIMES NEVER!!! and HONEST ED’S A FREAK HE HAS BARGAINS COMING OUT OF HIS EARS were affected) -> to the first fire truck arriving and dousing it (the1st picture with the thick black smoke). Both the speed at which the fire grew and Toronto Fire’s arrival were remarkable. Or maybe it was just routine, but seeing TOFD in action like this, from beginning to end makes Toronto seem safe and that its various systems, when they need to, will work like clockwork. Eventually at least 8 pumpers showed up, Bloor was shut down, and we walked east to try to find a nightcap but as has been widely reported, you can’t find a reasonably civilized drink in the Annex anymore.
Though there were many “oh no” responses to my tweeting of the event at the thought of losing a Toronto landmark, the rumour around town (up until the recession, that is) is that Honest Ed’s, the only big box store one could call lovable, will become a condo complex one day soon now that the late Ed himself isn’t around to fuss over his D.I.Y. K-mart retail creation. As unique as it is, intensification of this site seems inevitable (even if those rumours have quieted down), and it makes those signs telling you to get inside seem even more urgent because one of these days it’ll disappear in much less dramatic fashion than it almost did tonight.
23 comments
Any idea what was in the window display that caught fire, or may have even started the fire?
What if it burned down?
There would be predictable anguished headlines for a few days. The predictable interviews with seniors who shopped there 50 years ago, the Mervish family, the BIA etc. Would anyone care beyond that? Is this still a Toronto “institution” or “landmark”? I think they have lost that status.
The outside sign is poorly maintained with many lights burnt out. The store creates a dead-zone on Bloor and Bathurst when it’s closed. Of course we couldn’t control what replaced it, but my question is could we do worse that this? How many people shop here? I assume they have one of those granfathered property tax rates and have a very low cost of operation, but maybe not and they are just hanging on.
Is this store doing anything other than making hipsters feel urban when they walk past it?
Do the people that use the store have an alternative place to buy discount goods (and religious idols)?
I honestly don’t know.
Jonathan, I suspect that H.E.’s does less business than it once did but there are still a lot of people who shop there. And it’s not seniors but new (or newish) immigrants who I see filling their bags with goods. The store isn’t for the hipsters, although they may enjoy it — it’s for people that don’t have much money. And sadly there are still a lot of those people in Toronto, even if they can no longer afford to live in the Annex.
I imagine that the building will ultimately be replaced with higher density residential/retail, and the new building(s) may be nice additions to the neighbourhood, BUT losing Honest Ed’s will still be a loss.
I’ve never thought the store was for hipsters et al either. I haven’t been inside for at least a year (and when I first moved to Toronto 10 years ago promptly got lost inside – as per the sign – and couldn’t find the exit) but so many of the shoppers there look like my Maltese Nana. That is, older, senior immigrants. It was in Honest Ed’s that I first saw the obscure brand of chocolate bars we used to get from her as kids (that weren’t in regular stores). It was not the cool chocolate, but we liked it.
Ed’s shifts what I think of as (or what we’re often told about) downtown Toronto’s demographics – we think (for various reasons) these kinds of people (my Nana’s) have moved out of the core, but Ed’s was always full of them. So they’re still all around but other than Ed’s, they disappear into the city.
Also – you can see the extent of the fire over at BlogTO:
http://www.blogto.com/city/2010/01/devastation_averted_in_honest_eds_fire/
I shop there once in a while, for clothes, kitchenware, or small housewares. Often I will walk out with nothing, but sometimes I score a totally cool item of clothing for cheap, or a wooden spoon with a 2 ft. handle for that really big chili pot. I am not adverse to a good deal on something I need.
“There’s no place like this place, anyplace!” is so true, and we will lose something when it’s eventually replaced with the same old same old retail outlets you can find anywhere.
Honest Ed’s has always creeped me out.
Jonathan,
actually many people still shop there and it is a favourite spot for my wife to shop cheap clothes for all my family. And gosh it is definitely NOT hipsters thing! In terms of urban design it is not the best (big box store with few entrances), and you can comment about its appearance. But if it is replaced by another bunch of coffee shops, boutique stores, sushi places, and maybe a bar or two, it will be missed by many people, and not just for a few days. If you want alternatives, as far as I can see, it is probably the Walmart at Dufferin Mall.
Remarkable reportage, Shawn, thanks!
Honest Ed, Squirrels love him cause he’s nuts!
Maybe instead of eventually gutting Ed’s and replacing it with a large development, the Mirvish family could adapt the store and add non-competitive retail space along Bloor while keeping the sign and the discount bonanza more or less intact. That way we could get our sushi restaurants and keep this landmark that helps define the sense of place at that intersection.
Another thing is when the Ed’s sign is off, Bloor seems incredibly dark.
Marcus > I’d expect there would be a “save the sign” movement like there was for the SAMS one. Redo it and outfit it with LED’s rather than incandescent, perhaps it would be a great historic marker there. Sounds like something the Mirvish’s would want to do to mark their family’s long presence/impact in/on Toronto.
I like that sign idea, Shawn. Also yes, walking along Bloor West of Bathurst when the Honest Ed’s lights are off is a little creepy.
I appreciate that Honest Ed’s is a Toronto landmark, and also that it somewhere for people to buy inexpensive goods.
But I think it’s a godawful, depressing building. It just hasn’t been maintained well. The outside looks like a giant backyard shed, and the inside looks like a grandparents neglected basement.
If a new development could go up there that is good for the neighbourhood, and kept the sign in some fashion, I’d be extremely happy with that.
I like Hon. Ed’s it has the triple threat of cheap;
i)toiletries (everybody uses them),
ii)staples (yes there is a food section), and
iii)hardware/kitchen wares.
Don’t be naive my friends. You may not love Ed’s (I, by the way, do. It’s kitsch, it’s inexpensive variety, etc.). However… if Ed’s gets torn down… make no mistake.. just like the rest of downtown, it will be replaced gawd-awful cookie-cutter condo’s. Nothing novel, interesting, new, etc. Just plain old condo’s. Don’t believe me? Walk along king, queen, and heck even high park and the junction. Be warned.
Fear not TO! We still have a place to buy underwear for 50cents a pair (25cents on sale days). I love Honest’s Ed and still go there a few times a year. Not sure how it’s current land use can be justified given the profitability that would ensue from other uses… But I’m glad it’s still there.
I, too, am an Ed’s-lover. It plays the best music, anywhere, or, should I say, my favourite music. At least half a dozen times I’ve walked in there and heard old ska and reggae and motown. At Christmas it was all Dean Martin and Ella. I want to do the opposite of murder people whenever I’m in there, which is a feeling that occurs to me in no other store in the history if stores.
So I’m glad to see the fire was a small one. And I laughed out loud at the headline!
Am not a fan of the screaming headline ldg, tried to keep calm and carry on from the get go. My “honest ed’s is on fire!” tweet was loud enough.
My Dad still shops there now and again, we were out on the Bloor subway some months back and he got off unexpectedly at Bathurst – we spent a good half hour soaking in the nostalgia and restocking his kitchen tools (he’d recently moved). More fun than I’d have expected.
Honest Ed’s is my favourite store in all of Toronto. I’m there at least once a week. I would have been devastated if it burnt down. Thank god it was discovered in time. I hope this place stays open for a long, long time!
Anybody who thinks a Walmart can replace Honest Ed’s is clueless and obviously doesn’t shop here. Honest Ed’s carries merchandise you could never find at Walmart. I’ve gotten some incredible things in this store. Honest Ed’s gets unusual stuff from all over the world, that I have never seen in other stores. I’ve even gotten designer clothing from here for mind-blowing prices. I never shop at Walmart and that won’t change, even if Honest Ed’s did burn down. There is no other store like Honest Ed’s. Toronto needs more distinctive, one-of-a-kind stores like this. It is an icon in this city.
The “value” of Honest Ed’s is not really tangible and has more to do with nostalgia and that is connected to one’s familiarity with this establishment. As a lifelong resident of downtown Toronto and now nearing
50 years of age places like “Ed’s” are Toronto to me
and when it goes away will be like an old uncle or aunt dieing. I might not of seen them everyday, but it
was nice to know they were still around. I have lamented the loss of other Toronto “Icons” such as “The Flyer”,”The alpine Way”,”Foods or the word” and
“Tanbora the ape woman” (these were all at the “Ex”)
“Peter Dunn’s vinyl Museum” (4 outlets at it’s peak)
“The Voodoo Club”,”Nuts and Bolts”,”The twilight Zone”,and “50 Wabash” (these were all nightspots)and one we can still stop, the replacement of Toronto’s acorn street signs.
The “value” of Honest Ed’s is not really tangible and has more to do with nostalgia and that is connected to one’s familiarity with this establishment. As a lifelong resident of downtown Toronto and now nearing
50 years of age places like “Ed’s” are Toronto to me
and when it goes away will be like an old uncle or aunt dieing. I might not of seen them everyday, but it
was nice to know they were still around. I have lamented the loss of other Toronto “Icons” such as “The Flyer”,”The alpine Way”,”Foods or the word” and
“Tambora the ape woman” (these were all at the “Ex”)
“Peter Dunn’s vinyl Museum” (4 outlets at it’s peak)
“The Voodoo Club”,”Nuts and Bolts”,”The twilight Zone”,and “50 Wabash” (these were all nightspots)and one we can still stop, the replacement of Toronto’s acorn street signs.