Change comes slowly, yet all the businesses you just listed there have opened only in the last 4 years. That is actually quite impressive rate of change. That is a lot of good in our 'hood.
Unless legitimate businesses step up to seize the storefronts around this place and eventually weed out places like this that have run rampant in this hood for years, there is little that can be done. They will claim they are running a business. By now I would have hoped that more indie entrepreneurs would have taken a chance on some of the storefronts on Dupont...other than Cafe Con Leche, Farmhouse Tavern, Farmer's daughter, Baguette and Co, Boo's and maybe El Amacen(does it even open it's doors with consistent hours?) and Four Cats art studio, there are too many abandoned places. I know it has to do with zoning but nothing will change unless the aforementioned types of places exsist. The bar itself has potential...the space it is as does the one across the street...but they pose issues because of the people that frequent them...
This is a great forum to discuss issues in the neighbourhood, regardless of those issues being positive or negative. I don't think it benefits anybody to ignore something as serious as a man being found dead on Dupont. Especially seeing as it has not been reported anywhere else.
Also, speaking about a business such as "This Month Only" and hi-lighting the issues some neighbours have had with this place is only a good thing. I have no idea what can be done about "This Month Only", but this is a great forum to talk about ideas.
Why do people continue to come on this forum to highlight the negative things that may happen in the JT? Someone posted a while ago how Toronto Life had us in the top 20 of neighborhoods in the city and you know what, no one replied to that positive bit of news! We are surrounded by other neighborhoods that also scored in the top 20...Davenport/Corso Italia and Wallace Emerson. Someone surfing this blog from the outside must wonder about the negativity stemming from these posts. I mean we all recognize that every neighborhood has it's problems(as ours does),but this is typical of Torontonians and Canadians to have a complex about themselves and always feel insecure about what they have! Sad! Yes, we know the places that need work, but what about the places that are doing it right!
Who would have thought almonds would become a source of shaming and controversy? : ) This story is one of the most read on the Mother Jones site and while the writer has written a lot about almonds and drought I think this story was designed to rile people up a bit.
oh wow, this was not on the news anywhere. if it weren't for this forum, we would never know. not sure what is worse in our neighbourhood. the drug related crimes, or the nasty smell coming from Nitta
I actually partnered with a hair stylist to setup a salon in the hood at the plaza at Dupont and Perth - it was called "Sweet Hair and Spa". The salon was a hair and nails spa. The previous owner had a salon there as well. Here is what I learned I hope you can benefit from it.
1. It helps to speak Portuguese. I actually own one of the units in the plaza and brought it from a salon owner. After buying it I partnered with a hair dresser to run a salon.
The previous salon owner was always busy and complained about working alot. She had back problems and I think she didn't really want all the responsibilities of managing the building.
2. It takes a while to gather clients. I helped run it for 10 months. We kindof did a chair/space rental businesses. The hair dresser did great but that was because she already had regular existing clients. The nails specialist had to work hard to build up clientele. The salon at the time was newly renovated. Obviously the summer months were great for business. Over winter the walkins died down. I think there is lots of potential if you have a good personality - it also helps to speak Portuguese because there is not enough modern hair salon places in the area to accommodate the Portuguese community.
3. In the height of the business we had a hair stylist, a nail person, a aromatherapy/hair removal specialist and a tattoo artist there.
The hair stylist and the tattoo artist did super well. The nail person was really new at running her own business and didn't feel like she was making her rent but she was getting lots of new clients with alot of (direct) mail marketing. The aromatherapy client was not doing so well.
At the end, because the nail specialist quit we decided to close shop.
I really just wanted to be landlord and to run a business I am not familiar with. The hair stylist did not really want to rent and manage the store. The tattoo artist could not cover the rent alone so we decided to call it quits.
4. Shortly after closing the nail specialist came back and regretted her decision. She started to understand that her business takes a while to build up and after leaving she realize what the benefits of running your own business are. I think 2 years is the mark to break even for a business because you are no longer looking for new client or walk-ins as your main source of income. It is when the regulars make up the bulk of your business.
I think there is an untapped market in the area for hair/nail/tattoo parlours/spas as can be seen by the hair salon at Dufferin Mall. But I think the clientele are looking for a $20-40 hair cut. I think once you have established your regulars you can start doing more upscale work.
Anyways having tried it and failed, I hope someone else might learn from my failures.
This Month Only is a blight on our community. Every night people screaming, yelling, blatantly selling drugs outside, constant fighting, drunk people getting into cars, harassment of bystanders, bikers idly revving their motorcycles at 3 a.m - the list goes on. I really wish the police would crack down on this place.
Hi,
Yes police knocked on our doors. Asking if we heard any noises. They said that somebody "passed away" from the bar. It is unfortunate that police comes only if somebody "passes away". Those over-serving (often to drivers) bars are a real danger to our residents.
There is NON EMERGENCY Police line to call for drug deals and drunk drivers:
416-808-2222
there a line for liqueur license enforcment
Staff Sergeant. Ed Wong: (416) 326-7161.
Hello!
I'll be leading the Jane's Walk tour next week--super excited! We will now be including interior tours of a glass studio, a print studio, Kal Mansur studio's and Phillip Beasley's incredible sculptural installations in the 213 and 225 Sterling Road buildings. Please join us for a drink after the walk at Gaslight bar at the end of Sterling Road at Bloor St. and if you have any suggestions for amazing things to point out on Sterling do let me know!
Reading the comments about the Wallace train pedestrian overpass. I was at two development meetings from the builder of the these new townhouses, and both times people asked about the Edwin road extension and were told that the new stair configuration would not involve a bridge closure for any amount of time. The new stairs do not continue in a straight line down, they will fold back towards the rail path, but at both meetings they said that the new stairs would be built and in place, and then they would remove the old staircase in order to extend Edwin down to Wallace.
If this has changed it is totally against the original planned project. People are referencing Vic's comments but I do not see them, if Vic has already said the same thing I am saying here, sorry about that!
Is the Metrolinx Super Bridge going to help the residents of Bloordale, Davenport Village and the Junction Triangle? Is it going to elevate the neighbourhood or just the trains?
The Junction Triangle Rail Committee has a list of five ideas to make the plan better and we have started a discussion about the entire project that Metrolinx is attempting to avoid. Please join us. https://www.facebook.com/groups/413180405403017/
A lot of these entries are old I can say up to 2013 there has been nothing done about this site Hydro used it when they were burying cables on Dupont. I asked Sobey's if they would consider building on the site they said they would investigate and heard nothing further since then and I moved away from the area but have been back coming through in 2014 and still nothing. I had no idea anything was buried underneath that would explain a lot. At the time I had only lived there that year and frustrated at the lack of proper grocery in the hood as 20 corner stores in the area is not helping things and totally useless it amazed me any of them are still around. So I am guessing once the Union Lofts go up no one will bother? I had asked the library but they are moving to Campbell I never understood why. This site has so much potential but goes unused because no one wants to bother even though the hood is changing. I had mentioned to Sobey's about that awful mall opposite with the bakery but no answer. It's sad even with new townhomes and a few new restos and cafes this side of Dupont remains neglected.
Church at Perth Wallace update. So many folks have been annoyed with the construction trucks on the sidewalks, blocking the street, and the deliveries by large trucks during to and from school hours. There have been quite a few calls to the police (like a week ago when a truck was parked in the center of the intersection for 40 minutes at 4pm. The police came close to charging the driver.) Today by chance I ran into an inspector from the Ministry of Labour who said they had received complaints as well and that he was now actively involved in monitoring the project. He will be visiting the site on a regular basis from now on.There was many things he was not happy about and will be ordering them to stop deliveries during the morning and afternoon school walks and correcting the unsafe storage of building supplies. This inspector has the power to shut the site down so we should see some improvements.
yay hopefully more good things to come...tim hortons..mcdonalds...starbucks....they should all holla......so live!!!
Change comes slowly, yet all the businesses you just listed there have opened only in the last 4 years. That is actually quite impressive rate of change. That is a lot of good in our 'hood.
I took a bunch of photos of the Friday evening edition of this Jane's Walk. They're posted to Flick here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/vgedris/sets/72157652377171245/
Unless legitimate businesses step up to seize the storefronts around this place and eventually weed out places like this that have run rampant in this hood for years, there is little that can be done. They will claim they are running a business. By now I would have hoped that more indie entrepreneurs would have taken a chance on some of the storefronts on Dupont...other than Cafe Con Leche, Farmhouse Tavern, Farmer's daughter, Baguette and Co, Boo's and maybe El Amacen(does it even open it's doors with consistent hours?) and Four Cats art studio, there are too many abandoned places. I know it has to do with zoning but nothing will change unless the aforementioned types of places exsist. The bar itself has potential...the space it is as does the one across the street...but they pose issues because of the people that frequent them...
Hi,
PrimeMinister - I acknowledge your point. Great initiatives and general improvements need to be acknowledged.
However important and often "difficult" issues must be addressed.
This is a great forum to discuss issues in the neighbourhood, regardless of those issues being positive or negative. I don't think it benefits anybody to ignore something as serious as a man being found dead on Dupont. Especially seeing as it has not been reported anywhere else.
Also, speaking about a business such as "This Month Only" and hi-lighting the issues some neighbours have had with this place is only a good thing. I have no idea what can be done about "This Month Only", but this is a great forum to talk about ideas.
Why do people continue to come on this forum to highlight the negative things that may happen in the JT? Someone posted a while ago how Toronto Life had us in the top 20 of neighborhoods in the city and you know what, no one replied to that positive bit of news! We are surrounded by other neighborhoods that also scored in the top 20...Davenport/Corso Italia and Wallace Emerson. Someone surfing this blog from the outside must wonder about the negativity stemming from these posts. I mean we all recognize that every neighborhood has it's problems(as ours does),but this is typical of Torontonians and Canadians to have a complex about themselves and always feel insecure about what they have! Sad! Yes, we know the places that need work, but what about the places that are doing it right!
I could not resist: http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/07/lay-off-almond-milk-igno...
Who would have thought almonds would become a source of shaming and controversy? : ) This story is one of the most read on the Mother Jones site and while the writer has written a lot about almonds and drought I think this story was designed to rile people up a bit.
oh wow, this was not on the news anywhere. if it weren't for this forum, we would never know. not sure what is worse in our neighbourhood. the drug related crimes, or the nasty smell coming from Nitta
I actually partnered with a hair stylist to setup a salon in the hood at the plaza at Dupont and Perth - it was called "Sweet Hair and Spa". The salon was a hair and nails spa. The previous owner had a salon there as well. Here is what I learned I hope you can benefit from it.
1. It helps to speak Portuguese. I actually own one of the units in the plaza and brought it from a salon owner. After buying it I partnered with a hair dresser to run a salon.
The previous salon owner was always busy and complained about working alot. She had back problems and I think she didn't really want all the responsibilities of managing the building.
2. It takes a while to gather clients. I helped run it for 10 months. We kindof did a chair/space rental businesses. The hair dresser did great but that was because she already had regular existing clients. The nails specialist had to work hard to build up clientele. The salon at the time was newly renovated. Obviously the summer months were great for business. Over winter the walkins died down. I think there is lots of potential if you have a good personality - it also helps to speak Portuguese because there is not enough modern hair salon places in the area to accommodate the Portuguese community.
3. In the height of the business we had a hair stylist, a nail person, a aromatherapy/hair removal specialist and a tattoo artist there.
The hair stylist and the tattoo artist did super well. The nail person was really new at running her own business and didn't feel like she was making her rent but she was getting lots of new clients with alot of (direct) mail marketing. The aromatherapy client was not doing so well.
At the end, because the nail specialist quit we decided to close shop.
I really just wanted to be landlord and to run a business I am not familiar with. The hair stylist did not really want to rent and manage the store. The tattoo artist could not cover the rent alone so we decided to call it quits.
4. Shortly after closing the nail specialist came back and regretted her decision. She started to understand that her business takes a while to build up and after leaving she realize what the benefits of running your own business are. I think 2 years is the mark to break even for a business because you are no longer looking for new client or walk-ins as your main source of income. It is when the regulars make up the bulk of your business.
I think there is an untapped market in the area for hair/nail/tattoo parlours/spas as can be seen by the hair salon at Dufferin Mall. But I think the clientele are looking for a $20-40 hair cut. I think once you have established your regulars you can start doing more upscale work.
Anyways having tried it and failed, I hope someone else might learn from my failures.
Good luck!
I like almond milk. They cater to lots of vegan options which is very very nice!
Wow thanks for the update. I didn't think that actually did happen in the neigbourhood.
This Month Only is a blight on our community. Every night people screaming, yelling, blatantly selling drugs outside, constant fighting, drunk people getting into cars, harassment of bystanders, bikers idly revving their motorcycles at 3 a.m - the list goes on. I really wish the police would crack down on this place.
Hi,
Yes police knocked on our doors. Asking if we heard any noises. They said that somebody "passed away" from the bar. It is unfortunate that police comes only if somebody "passes away". Those over-serving (often to drivers) bars are a real danger to our residents.
There is NON EMERGENCY Police line to call for drug deals and drunk drivers:
416-808-2222
there a line for liqueur license enforcment
Staff Sergeant. Ed Wong: (416) 326-7161.
To the young man who stopped to explain the purpose of the meeting - Thank you!
Hello!
I'll be leading the Jane's Walk tour next week--super excited! We will now be including interior tours of a glass studio, a print studio, Kal Mansur studio's and Phillip Beasley's incredible sculptural installations in the 213 and 225 Sterling Road buildings. Please join us for a drink after the walk at Gaslight bar at the end of Sterling Road at Bloor St. and if you have any suggestions for amazing things to point out on Sterling do let me know!
-Catto
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/what-up-and-coming-looks-lik...
Hi, I had emailed the photos from the Junction Triangle's 5th Anniversary event to you awhile ago. Did you receive them?
Yes...I just fixed that. I'm easily confused. :)
I think that May and April have been interposed here, I could be wrong.
I'm guessing April, and it's a typo...
Reading the comments about the Wallace train pedestrian overpass. I was at two development meetings from the builder of the these new townhouses, and both times people asked about the Edwin road extension and were told that the new stair configuration would not involve a bridge closure for any amount of time. The new stairs do not continue in a straight line down, they will fold back towards the rail path, but at both meetings they said that the new stairs would be built and in place, and then they would remove the old staircase in order to extend Edwin down to Wallace.
If this has changed it is totally against the original planned project. People are referencing Vic's comments but I do not see them, if Vic has already said the same thing I am saying here, sorry about that!
Is the Metrolinx Super Bridge going to help the residents of Bloordale, Davenport Village and the Junction Triangle? Is it going to elevate the neighbourhood or just the trains?
The Junction Triangle Rail Committee has a list of five ideas to make the plan better and we have started a discussion about the entire project that Metrolinx is attempting to avoid. Please join us.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/413180405403017/
A lot of these entries are old I can say up to 2013 there has been nothing done about this site Hydro used it when they were burying cables on Dupont. I asked Sobey's if they would consider building on the site they said they would investigate and heard nothing further since then and I moved away from the area but have been back coming through in 2014 and still nothing. I had no idea anything was buried underneath that would explain a lot. At the time I had only lived there that year and frustrated at the lack of proper grocery in the hood as 20 corner stores in the area is not helping things and totally useless it amazed me any of them are still around. So I am guessing once the Union Lofts go up no one will bother? I had asked the library but they are moving to Campbell I never understood why. This site has so much potential but goes unused because no one wants to bother even though the hood is changing. I had mentioned to Sobey's about that awful mall opposite with the bakery but no answer. It's sad even with new townhomes and a few new restos and cafes this side of Dupont remains neglected.
Church at Perth Wallace update. So many folks have been annoyed with the construction trucks on the sidewalks, blocking the street, and the deliveries by large trucks during to and from school hours. There have been quite a few calls to the police (like a week ago when a truck was parked in the center of the intersection for 40 minutes at 4pm. The police came close to charging the driver.) Today by chance I ran into an inspector from the Ministry of Labour who said they had received complaints as well and that he was now actively involved in monitoring the project. He will be visiting the site on a regular basis from now on.There was many things he was not happy about and will be ordering them to stop deliveries during the morning and afternoon school walks and correcting the unsafe storage of building supplies. This inspector has the power to shut the site down so we should see some improvements.