[URBAN NOTE] Honest Ed's
Jan. 3rd, 2007 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldWhen I went shopping today for dishes and glasses and hangers for the new apartment, Honest Ed's was the first store that came to my mind. As its official website hints and as its Wikipedia article claims quite accurately, Honest Ed's is perhaps the prototypical no-frills bargain department.
What makes Honest Ed's a Toronto institution is the fact that it was founded by the flamboyant and locally renowned businessman Ed Mirvish. That, and the low prices: You don't find 20-piece dinner sets for $C10 that easily.
From its prominent location at the corner of Bloor and Bathurst Streets in the middle of Mirvish Village, its glitzy exterior (the light displays are spectacular after dark) belies its very humble interior, with uneven, creaky floors and simple displays of low-priced merchandise, ranging from vacuum cleaners to winter coats to soup. Much of the store's decor consists of posters and photos from Mirvish stage productions.
Every piece of signage, right down to the prices of individual items, is a hand-painted showcard created by a traditional in-house signpainter. The outside facade is peppered with humorous slogans such as, "Come in and get lost!" and "Only the floors are crooked!"
What makes Honest Ed's a Toronto institution is the fact that it was founded by the flamboyant and locally renowned businessman Ed Mirvish. That, and the low prices: You don't find 20-piece dinner sets for $C10 that easily.
