Ossington Village » downtown lumber

Last Minute Valentines Gift Guide

Brians — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:31:34 +0000

February 14 is this Monday, and have you even thought about what to get
for your special someone? If not, we’ve got some great ideas for you that
you can get on Ossington. We did not visit every space on the street, and
we know there are lots we missed, but here’s a small sampling.

The first stop we made had to be Jaidens Petals, because Dani is our source for beautiful flowers and arrangements. She will be working overtime until Valentine’s Day is done to make personalized bouquets, and she also has some pre-made beauties at $20, $30 and $40.

Our next stop was Venezia Bakery, because everybody likes sweets on Valentine’s Day! And do they have sweets! Tarts, cakes, cannolis, pies – all sorts of tasty treats for your sweetheart! My mouth is watering just looking at them!

So the traditional Valentine’s gifts of flowers and food are taken care of, we move on to Frantic City. You can pick out a record album or book by your or your sweetheart’s favourite musician or author, or go with a book of poetry by a well-known Canadian. Browse around and see what works for you! All of the above are suitable for man or woman.

At I Miss You Vintage, you’ll find a lot of options for the fashionable woman in your life. It may be hard to pick out clothing for someone not there to try it on, but accessories will always work! And I Miss You has a wide range of vintage handbags, belts, and jewelry for your retro-leading lady.

C1 art space has a lot of cute stuffed toys, quirky cards, and these beautiful (but affordable) necklaces for your lovely!

At Ministry of the Interior, we found some beautiful boxes – even if there’s nothing inside, it’s a nice gift to open!

Finally, if you are feeling like it this Valentine’s may be the right time to take your relationship to the next level, Downtown Lumber will gladly make a copy of your key. Stick that in an envelope and seal it with a kiss!

Now that you’ve got the shopping done, don’t forget to make a reservation at one of your favorite restaurants! We have a guide for that too.

Happy Valentine’s everyone! XOXO

Downtown Lumber at National Home Show

Brians — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 01:56:51 +0000

This weekend the National Home Show is taking place at the Direct Energy Centre in the Exhibition Grounds. The show is absolutely enormous. There are over 700 exhibitors, and have a fancy dream home and such D-List Celebrities as Ty Pennington. The real fun of the show is checking out the new stuff around the show. I was there working on the booth for HomeStars, my day job, manning a booth we have down there. One of our local Ossington businesses has a full booth down at the show which I stopped by and said hi.

It seems that our local supplier of everything from paint, to tiles, to lumber (everyone should know they have a big lumberyard behind, down the alley, where they keep all sorts of building material too big for the store) has a full booth at the show. They do more than just being the local retail location. They are also designing and building kitchens and bathrooms with their design centre.

On the HomeStars site they’ve got a good lot of reviews, but it’s all for their retail work rather than their design work.

I like all the neat tubs and hardware they’ve got on display.

One of the booth visitors:

Ossington Business Profiles – Edition #1 – Sweaty Bettys

Brians — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:30:35 +0000

We’re adding a new series here on the Ossington Blog – Ossington Business Profiles. They are a short set of questions we are asking the business owners on the street about running their business on the Ossington strip.

Appropriately, our first profile is on Sweaty Bettys, one of the first hip places to be on the strip. Sweaty Bettys has been around since before Ossington was known by the rest of the city, and was an out-of-the-way place often frequented by celebrities who wanted to find a more secluded place to go. It’s still small and quaint, but busier with a broader audience. It’s still one of my favourite patios in the city.

So here it is: 8 questions with Pol Cristo-Williams, from Sweaty Bettys:

What’s your business?

Sweaty Betty’s

How is your business unique?

We tell people to piss off and they still keep coming back. Totally unique.

How long have you been in business here on Ossington?

5 years for Sweaty Betty’s, and my wife had an art gallery at the same location for two years before that. And we had The Sparrow Restaurant for a couple of years before it became Delux.

What drew you to be in the neighbourhood?

My wife. She’s cool. (see above)

What changes have you seen since your business has been here?

People shoot each other way less.

How do you see your business and Ossington five years from now?

Probably knocked down and turned into a Starbucks. That, or it’ll be full of aging hipsters who don’t really like Betty’s, but agree to still go there because the beer is cheap and it’s walking distance from home.

What is your favorite spot on Ossington (other than your own, of course)?

Downtown Lumber. They sell everything. And Jaiden’s Petals. Flowers are nice.

Any other thoughts on the neighbourhood you’d like to add?

Um, if Pantalone leaves, do we get our street back?