Torontoist » recession

Quantum of Solstice

Some of Red Pepper’s costumes and puppets “in their warm resting place” at the Kensington Community Centre on Baldwin. Photo by Jonathan Goldsbie/Torontoist. At approximately 5:45 p.m. on December 21st, 2008, Torontoist received a phone call from Boy Reporter. “The parade’s been cancelled.” “What?” “It’s been cancelled. Because of the wind.” A quick trip to [...]

Ouroboros Media Death Spiral

At left, Gary Clement’s National Post cartoon from Friday. At right, a CBC TV crew spotted on Canwest death watch outside the Post‘s Don Mills HQ the same day. It’s like a joke. Or maybe a parable. One media outlet characterized (fairly or unfairly) as left wing and one media outlet characterized (fairly or unfairly) [...]

A Recession Lesson

Photo by Jamie Bradburn/Torontoist The current economic situation has not been kind to American retailers. With sales sinking and several wobbly chains going the liquidation route, the U.S. retail landscape might not be the best model to emulate at the moment. This brings us to Yankee Stuff, a store proudly displaying the red, white, and [...]

Brewing Away the Blues

Fermentations, located at 201 Danforth Avenue. As Maclean’s reported last week, alcohol sales at large Canadian retailers were up seventeen per cent this past October in comparison to October 2007, while the Globe and Mail reported in December that the sale of high-priced liquors, such as champagne and ice wine, were way down. This isn’t [...]

Dazed and Confused

Graduating from university or college is supposed to be a celebratory event. Sadly, given all of the recent layoffs and hiring freezes in Canada, spring convocations probably won’t be so merry. Although this annual passage into quasi-adulthood is often regarded as a struggle for grads with generic arts degrees and diplomas, even business students will [...]

Cops Caught With Crops, Peeing In Shops, Comic Gets Props

Two Toronto police officers, along with three correctional officers and a real estate agent among others, were arrested yesterday for producing and distributing marijuana during a takedown of 63 grow ops across the GTA. Torontoist has made a principled decision not to make jokes about police malfeasance, mainly because our real names are printed at [...]

Stripper Shortage Looms, Canadians Gloom, Heist At Casa Loom-a

The Star says that an immigration crackdown has halved the number of exotic dancers in Toronto over the last decade, fuelling lap-dance inflation and forcing strip club customers to make hard choices between Froot Loops for the kids and throwing twenties at naked strangers. A new survey shows that Canadians are losing confidence in the [...]