By Melinda M, on July 24th, 2010%
Ossington has been mentioned in several news articles of late, so it’s time for our semi-regular press round-up.
The mentions are coming as far off as Ireland, where an article in the Irish Times cites our neighborhood as the “rising area” thanks to our bars and restaurants.
Another recent mention that garnered attention is from the Huffington Post, which calls Toronto “the capital of cool” and mentions Ossington as one of the “once dodgy, but now trendy…neighborhoods” for it’s galleries, shops and restaurants.
This sort of news must come in threes, because Daily Candy, a popular U.S. fashion and lifestyle blog, also visits Toronto and recommends Ossington for its restaurants and shops. Notably highlighted by Daily Candy are Jonathan + Olivia, Delux, Pizzeria Libretto and Camp 4.
So maybe we can expect to hear more Irish and American accents when we shop and eat on Ossington.
Finally, closer to home, new coffee shop Crafted by Te Aro is receiving positive press. We can attest to the quality of their coffees (both hot and cold) and the professionalism and dedication of their staff. If you follow them on Twitter, you would have read about their very high rating from The Coffee Review. Kudos and welcome to the neighborhood!
By Melinda M, on July 21st, 2010%
As we posted last month, Frugal Fashion Week allows you to shop for a good cause in various neighborhoods around Toronto, including Dundas West/Ossington.
As Frugal Fashion Week kicks into gear tomorrow through the weekend, it’s time for a round-up of the events in our area that you can check out yourselves!
While there is an event each night around town, Ossington Village gets into the act on “Lazy Sunday” when FFW recommends a ”Shop Crawl”. FFW goes so far as to provide recommended zones around the city and recommended shops in those zones. The idea is to go out and meet and support local retailers and designers, and maybe buy something new for yourself. Because of all the great shops on Ossington, there is a pretty long list of recommendations: Silver Falls Vintage, LAB Consignment, I Miss You Vintage, Badlands, Oz Studios, Vintage Mix 1, and Penny Arcade around the corner on Dundas. There is no fee for doing the shop crawl.
Additionally on Sunday afternoon, to wrap up the whole event, LAB Consignment and Silver Falls Vintage host GLAM!, a stylish afternoon social. The party features cocktails, shopping (of course!), and swag and is on the back patio at 15 Ossington. Recommend donation is only $5 at the door.
By Melinda M, on June 29th, 2010%
 Did you notice that the “For Lease” sign on 194 Ossington is gone? It’s because a new tenant has signed on. We received an email from Ian and Laura at Telegramme Prints and Custom Framing. They are very excited to be taking over the lease at 194 Ossington (which once belonged to Monarch Art & Framing and also 1st Run). They signed the lease today and are going to spend the summer working on the space to get it ready to open the first week of September.
Telegramme Prints and Custom Framing is already a thriving business on Queen St East, and now they are expanding to the west end. In addition to signed, numbered, limited edition and otherwise hard to get prints and posters from all over, they’ll be providing all custom framing services at 194 Ossington. That includes competitively priced conservation framing of prints, posters and photographs, canvas stretching, plak mounting and laminating, and unusual wildcard custom framing work. If you click the link above to their website, you’ll see the extensive services that will be available.
By Melinda M, on June 15th, 2010%
 Frugal Fashion Week is a Toronto charitable initiative that celebrates all the fun of fashion and shopping, while also supporting local retailers in design communities and donating some proceeds to a good cause, Windfall, Canada’s only new clothing bank.
Ossington and Dundas West count as one of the key neighborhoods for this event, along with West Queen West, Yorkville, Yonge and Eglinton, and King East. 
Although the week is not happening until the end of July, tickets are already on sale for the whole shebang, including a gala at the Bata Shoe Museum (talk about perfect synergy), a Shop Crawl party, and a Finale event with music and fashion at an undisclosed location on Ossington.
It sounds like a fun new event, and it’s for a good cause, and local! What more could you want?
By Melinda M, on June 14th, 2010%
 All the fashionistas have been tweeting and blogging about it for weeks, but the day is now almost here: Topshop opens in Jonathan + Olivia‘s space on Ossington Avenue this Saturday, June 19. The strip is likely to be a little crowded that morning!
Topshop comes to Ossington from jolly old England, and this location is only the second in North America, after NYC, of course. Known for alarmingly good prices for current fashion, Topshop will fill a void for a lot of Torontonians.
Maybe we’ll see you there on Saturday, if we can stand the crowds!
By Melinda M, on June 13th, 2010%
JB Laundromat at 132 Ossington, in between Ossington Tire and Reposado, has closed. Signs in the window invite customers to visit Hollywood Laundry up the street ins tead.
For the past few years, we have seen lots of changes on Ossington. What does it mean that we are down to one laundromat on Ossington? Hollywood Laundry looked pretty crowded this morning, so if you need to use their washing machines, I guess you’ll have to give yourself more time, or go on off hours. 
We’ll keep you posted when a new tenant takes over 132 Ossington, and let us know if you hear anything, in the comments!
By Melinda M, on June 2nd, 2010%
 A few months ago, we did a business profile of Silver Falls Vintage at 15 Ossington. Now Silver Falls Vintage is sharing space with a fashionable new business known as LAB Consignment.
Founded by Lauren Baker in 2009, LAB Consignment is a new consignment service specializing in the resale of chic, gently used, designer and vintage ladies clothing, shoes and handbags. Her current collection is available for sale online and in the new location in the rear of Silver Falls Vintage, 15 Ossington Ave. LAB sells such designers as D&G, YSL, A.P.C., J BRAND, Earnest Sewn, Milli, Helmut Lang, Topshop, Walter Steiger, Christian Dior, Marc Jacobs, Banana Republic, Club Monaco, Givenchy, Kors, Betsey Johnson, and lots of different vintage designers.
We are not the first to tell you about this new venture! There was a lot of buzz after the opening party a couple of weeks ago, which was DJ-ed by k-os. (k-os has been to Ossington). However, we do have some insider info on to make the best of your consigning experience at LAB from Lauren herself:
Seasonal items should be consigned within these months:
SPRING – FEB TO APRIL
SUMMER – MAY TO JULY
FALL – AUGUST TO OCTOBER
WINTER – NOVEMBER TO JANUARY
This is what we’re looking for:
- Gently used designer and vintage nicer ladies clothing, shoes, and handbags.
- Canadian independent designers to be featured in store
Items I am NOT looking for:
- A pink GAP t-shirt from 2006 aka plain boring staples
- Items with holes, stains, or major wear marks
- Anything non-designer H&M (I will take Stella McCartney for H&M eg), Forever 21, Abercrombie, American Eagle, Stitches, Urban Behaviour, Preloved, Le Chateau (unless it’s circa 1980-90), most mall stores
- Ironic t-shirts – unless they’re amazing
- Flip-flops
So, bring her your summer stuff now, but don’t try to pass off those smelly flip-flops you bought at Old Navy 2 summers ago. Wrong in so many ways!
By Melinda M, on May 7th, 2010%
 Summer must be close because our neighborhood farmers market at Trinity Bellwoods park is starting up again this Tuesday, May 11. The below information details all you need to know before you go, and comes courtesy of their website.
TIME: Tuesdays 3pm to 7pm
SEASON: May 11th to Oct. 26th, 2010 (rain or shine)
LOCATION: north/west end of park, Dundas W. & Shaw/Crawford
ACCESS: foot, bike, wheelchair, TTC
*please bring your reusable shopping bags.
*please make efforts to arrive by foot, bike or TTC.
*parking along east curb of Shaw, south of Dundas W. is reserved for participating vendors only.
*patron parking is limited, if you bring vehicle, Dundas W. has 1 hour parking until 6pm.
By Brians, on May 2nd, 2010%
 Lush and Lavish has been growing their business on Ossington since launching around two years ago, taking over an old salon and updating it with many new services and offerings including massages, and treatments.
We profiled Lush and Lavish in March, and the company has been growing ever since.
Last Wednesday they had another launch as a celebration to announce the start of their beauty school as well as some new lines of products they are offering. Their beauty school offers the chance to come in for a session where you can learn beauty tips as well as how to use some of the products they offer.
They were also offering Dalish Cosmetics makeovers using a product line from Torontonian Melanie Cruickshank.
Founders Trudy and Linh are also offering memberships which offer a bulk discount on a whole set of services available for the entire upcoming year. This is a good way to beat the upcoming HST which will add another 8% to the price of individual services.
By Melinda M, on April 22nd, 2010%
 Living in the neighborhood, we often see people toting yoga mats and heading straight for 148 Ossington, the home of YogaSpace, which is run by owner and director Kathyrn Beet. For the seventh in our series of Ossington Business Profiles, we spoke to Janice, the administrator of this yoga studio and so much more! Below, the answers to our questions:
What’s your business?
How is your business unique?
How long have you been in business here?
YogaSpace is an established Toronto Yoga studio in it’s 15th year (on the Ossington strip for 6 years). We offer a wide variety of Yoga classes on an extensive drop-in schedule. We also offer specialty pre-registered classes and workshops including monthly Introduction to Yoga and Therapeutic Yoga workshops. We lead two teacher training programs anually and host workshops featuring internationally
renowned Yoga Teachers. Our senior teachers lead Yoga retreats annually both locally and abroad. We are also home to a clinical team who offer integrated therapeutics including registered massage therapy, shiatsu, acupuncture, naturopathy, osteopathy, lifestyle coaching and thai massage.
We are a community made up of people from all walks of life who come together to enjoy the beauty and serenity of the space, the attentive, down to earth and friendly manner of our staff, and our strong teaching team. YogaSpace offers something for everyone. We see Yoga as a therapeutic tool that can
become a foundation for health. While some people come to the studio for exercise or to tone, strengthen and increase flexibility, others are working to overcome challenges such as insomnia, anxiety, depression, stress and low energy. Whether you are looking for a vigorous vinaysa class, a gentle introduction to yoga, a meditative hatha class or a deeply therapeutic restorative class, our approach is therapeutic, and our intention is to provide students with a wide variety of opportunities to heal mind and body.
What drew you to be here on Ossington?
We wanted to be in the centre of our Queen West neighborhood and we saw Ossingon as the new frontier. We were one of the first businesses to open up here, and it has been exciting to see our vision of the strip manifest.
What changes have you seen on Ossington since your business has been here?
Everything has changed. Ossington went from being one of the ugliest, emptiest streets to a thriving, funky happening strip.
How do you see your business and Ossington five years from now?
We are constantly growing and expanding, and so is Ossington, so we are really excited about the next 5 years.
What is your favorite spot on Ossington, other than your own? and why?
We love Jaiden’s Petals and Cindy Loo Who and they provide us with all of our flowers and furniture. We also love the pizza at Libretto!
|
|
|
