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rfmcdonaldblogTO's Derek Flack poses the question over whether Queen Street West--once the trendy but inexpensive destination for music and shopping and indie-ness generally--is being gentrified with its distinctive qualities on track to the Annex.
The rise of big retail on the strip has been a long time coming, and the proclamations of the death of Queen West are as well documented as they are predictable. As Zotti says, "a scene like the one Queen used to have eventually attracts the mainstream."
Perhaps more interesting is the desire to try the Annex as a future location for Silver Snail. Although it's still a long way off, when the store does eventually relocate — and, just to be clear, at no point will it be closed — this is the neighbourhood [one shopowner] has set his sights on. "The Annex just feels more like Queen West used to be. There are lots of book stores, U of T is there, and you have the high school kids as well. Silver Snail would fit in."
As much as I think that last bit is true, it's not as if the Annex hasn't been accused of becoming too corporate itself. Having more to do with fast food joints than the retail/fashion sphere, it's still pretty common to hear people lament that the Annex isn't what it used to be either. Zotti disagrees. "It's still an area that's full of small boutiques and independent stores. It has the passerby traffic that we've lost [on Queen Street]," he notes, in reference to the neighbourhood's demographic more than just the number of pedestrians out on the street.
Who knows, maybe there's a bit of an independent resurgence in the cards for the Bloor Street strip? It's tough to call a trend based on one store's desire to relocate, but the replacement of Burger King with Guu SakaBar is surely a positive sign as far as the food scene goes. And, unlike Queen West, independent businesses along Bloor have proven more resilient to a corporate presence in the area.
