Mon, December 3, 2007
By NORMAN DE BONO, SUN MEDIA
The neighbourhoods that divide London into regions each have their own sense of what makes them unique, while still working as part of a larger city.
Part of that identity are the stores that can be found in these neighbourhoods, from the sprawling mall, to the gathering of big-box retailers, to the independent boutiques offering the unusual.
All help mark the different regions of the city and give us, to a degree, a sense of the people that live there.
Welcome to London's neighbourhoods, and the stores that help define them.
Downtown
Yes, it is still a shopping district, Jonathon Bancroft-Snell declares from behind the counter of the Dundas Street gallery that bears his name.
"We are finding that people are coming to the downtown, they are going shop to shop and are telling me there has been a positive change," said Bancroft-Snell.
"There are more owner-occupied shops here than in any other place in the city. Downtown is viable as a shopping area, we all know each other here and it is on a very human scale. You can walk along the street and it is not towering, the buildings are being fixed up, it is incredible here."
Even the sinkhole, formed when a watermain broke Oct. 31 at Dundas and Wellington streets, has added to downtown notoriety.
"I have had people call me from Florida, Nova Scotia and Montreal, all saying they heard on the news about our sinkhole," said Bancroft-Snell, whose 4,500-square-foot location is the largest ceramic gallery in Canada.
Janette MacDonald, manager of MainStreet, which oversees downtown retailing, agrees. While the downtown has carved a niche for itself with restaurants, business offices and institutional use, such as colleges opening at Galleria London, there are still "hundreds" of retailers, she insists.
"They are unique, they are mostly owner-operated and offer a high level of service," she said.
Just a sampling includes Kingsmill's, Jill's Table, The Market Gift Shop, Dan Hasson Clothiers, Forest City Coins, Novacks, Two Wheels, Target Hi Fi, Randall Klein and the list goes on.
"If you want to grab something different, head downtown," said MacDonald.
One London retailer who's experienced what it's like to do business in different areas is John Nash, owner of Nash Jewellers. He has a store on Dundas Street -- it's an anchor in the core -- and another in the city's hottest retail sector, Masonville.
"Downtown is more upscale, and we are moving in the direction of offering higher-end products because of that," said Nash. "Downtown is a destination store. It gets good traffic at all times."
While Masonville has higher traffic, the average sale is higher downtown, he adds.
"I think there are serious consumers downtown," he said. "We do not get a lot of tire-kickers . . . people come downtown to buy."
Richmond Row
The strip of boutiques and specialty shops north from Dundas Street downtown to Oxford Street has become a rich niche of unique retailers offering something a little our of the ordinary.
"The stores along the row here are very special," said Brad Scrinko, owner of Gift of Art and co-chairperson of the Richmond Row merchants association. "It's an effort to come here, but that is rewarded."
An effort in the sense it may not have the parking ease one can find at a shopping mall, but Gift of Art itself is an example of what sets Richmond Street apart. Along with its fine arts and gift items from 150 different artists across Canada, it features a "soap room."
"If people travel here for conferences from Calgary or Vancouver and end up at the mall, the stores are all the same as where they came from, but here it is something special," said Scrinko.
Recently, Richmond Row held a two-day seasonal kickoff event featuring carollers and horse-drawn carriage rides on the street as well as a contest for best window display.
"It is fun and very festive," said Scrinko.
For shoppers, the street has more than its share of unique stores, including Funky Monkey, the baby boutique, Kiss the Cook for all things kitchen-related, Saffron Road, Fisher and Co., Jolie Jupe for clothing and Tribal Mountain Trade, one of the more established retailers on the street.
"If you shop here you are dealing with the person who is an independent businessperson, it is owner-operated," said Candy Mackay, owner of Tribal Mountain, which has been in business 23 years.
"It offers a unique selection. What I sell in my store is a reflection of what I like. I travel to Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico and we buy from the guys that make it," she said.
Masonville
For some in the retail business in London, it hangs in the north end casting a shadow over much of the city. Masonville is a retail, shopping juggernaut, anchored by the mall Masonville Place and fuelled by the upscale property surrounding it, its north London location is the largest and often busiest retail area of the city.
"The city is very regionalized, if you live in the south, you shop there, but what draws people here is the selection," said Daryl Clements, manager of Masonville Place. "We draw from all over the city, as well as from outside the city."
Not only is Masonvillle Place, with its 170 stores, a draw but around the mall are strip plazas filled with small shops and there are big-box stores across the street, he added.
"Masonville really offers a different experience, a different feel," he said.
Though trying to get into the mall parking lot on a Saturday afternoon still requires something akin to an act of Parliament, traffic and sales have dropped five to eight per cent over the last six months, said Clements.
"We think it is a multitude of things, cross-border shopping has had an impact and Hyde Park (where a big box centre has opened) have had an impact," he said.
But a lululemon athletica clothing outlet opened in the mall recently; a Banana Republic clothing store and Milestones, a casual eatery, are set to open soon.
At the other end of the retail spectrum, Scholar's Choice is a small retailer among the giants in Masonville, but it hardly gets lost, said Anna Longo, director of retail sales and marketing.
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Yes this is cool but it is old new!! Here's some more cool info from the wed site. If you have a street light out on your street you can do it your self to get it repaired!!!!
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