Results tagged “starbucks”

There was an article in April 18th's Globe and Mail that began by labelling Kensington Market "the site of the next big battle for gentrification" in Toronto. The central figure in that article was realtor Phil Pick, of Esbin Realty, whose "for lease" signs hang or have until recently hung in the windows of five Kensington storefronts this spring, by our last informal count. One Phil Pick property on Augusta Avenue has already been leased for some time to the owners of Good Egg, a gourmet kitchen implements store. Two more storefronts have Esbin Realty signs without Phil Pick's nameplate attached. Of the seven total Esbin properties not yet fully occupied, three are now leased and undergoing renovation. One of them, though still unfinished, is already selling, of all things, scooters.

Three months or so after the Toronto Star predicted that it might save the “blighted” intersection of Bathurst and Queen, Starbucks is finally open on the northeast corner, the former site of a doughnut store/hangout for what outsiders regarded as degenerates, dope fiends, and all-round ne’er-do-wells.

Have a closer look at the posters on 234 Augusta Avenue after the jump.

The Post is reporting that talks are currently underway with Starbucks to rent the former home of J & J Fruit Market—on the corner of Augusta and Nassau and thus smack-dab in the heart of Kensington Market. Some Market residents who the Post interviewed were unsurprisingly ready for a fight, and, as the property is partially on city land, Adam Vaughan has said that it will require neighbourhood approval anyway and will become a "very public and pitched debate." That, and he wants Kensington composed of "small, family-run businesses.” So: probably not gonna happen. The winning serve comes from i deal coffee owner James Fortier, who tells the Post that he has no issues with Starbucks coming; he just thinks that the big chain won't make any money if they do. There's the rub: if, by some miracle, Starbucks gets its wings and opens up shop in Kensington, against the violent protests and certain vandalism from the locals, it could still only survive as long as customers' demand for it did.

While Second Cup and Starbucks have offered Wi-Fi service for years, the cost model has always leaned towards laptop users: customers can choose to purchase internet for an hour, a day, or a month. However, the explosion of Wi-Fi enabled smartphones changes the use of Wi-Fi: checking an email, using GPS, or finding a telephone listing takes minutes. Here's a catch: in the States, the internet period is limited to a single session. Once you log off, you're done for the day. We wonder if Bell will make the session cumulative or if the telco will follow suit. (Doesn't it appears that telcos plan to take advantage of the changing market to manipulate Wi-Fi at the major coffee chains to become marketing tools for products like the iPhone or WiMax?)

Overheard at the Queen & Dovercourt Starbucks.

MUSIC: The Edge 102.1's monthly new music showcase is on tonight at the Horseshoe Tavern. Tonight's line-up features upcoming Toronto indie bands Invasions, The Speakeasies, and The Rivals. The Horseshoe Tavern (370 Queen Street West), 8:30 p.m., FREE.

Snappy Answers runs every Saturday afternoon. Send your questions, be they tough or trivial, to snappyanswers@torontoist.com.

Former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto was assassinated yesterday in a bloody suicide attack that killled at least 20 other other people. Anyone thinking that this news isn't sufficiently Toronto-centric should hope that the destabilization of this nuclear-armed extremist-incubator state doesn't have much direct impact on Toronto, because if it does it's likely to be in ways that are not at all fun.

Gift cards may make convenient presents for Christmas, but they're a lump of coal for the environment. According to the Consumers' Association of Canada, Canadians will spend $3 billion on gift cards this year, which means a lot of rectangular pieces of plastic will end up in the garbage. Gift cards can be reloaded to extend use, but a person who receives multiple gift cards for a retailer usually keeps only one to reload and throws away the rest. (For example, 96 million Starbucks cards have been activated since 2001 and the cards have been reloaded more than 38 million times. That's 58 million Starbucks cards either unused or used and tossed in the trash.) In addition, most gift cards are not recyclable, says Givex, one of the largest providers of gift cards.

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.

The price of oil scaled new heights yesterday, climbing up over $80 US for the first time ever. That's good news if you're an oil company, but bad news if you're a regular folk who likes to go places, or do things, or eat stuff.

Photo of delighted fans by Carrie Musgrave.

Two arrests have been made in the shooting death of 15-year-old Jordan Manners. The two boys, both 17, were allegedly very close friends with Jordan, and even attended this weekend's vigils and had offered condolences to Jordan's mom. Here's hoping that this does not prompt more ignorant white guys to claim that children of single mothers shouldn't be friends.

On Monday, April 16, some of Toronto's finest slam poets walked into the John & Richmond Chapters-Indigo and performed sans mic, sans stage, sans everything.

Each weekday for the next two weeks, Torontoist is facing off local memes and blog drama in a tournament-style ladder and you, the reader, decide the outcome. March Madness begins today! View the current ladder here. Suggestions for next year will be recorded! Today's matches, Region I, 1st Round:

The Giambroney vs. One Cent Now
St. Clair ROW vs. York Subway
The Gardiner vs. CN Tower Ice
Starbucks vs. Parkdale
The Beach vs. The Beaches
Toronto Islands vs. The Docks
Dundas Square vs. Jane Jacobs
Megabins vs. Gas Power Plant

Because there are only a handful of Canadians in the NCAA, (and who really cares about college basketball, anyway?) we thought we'd cook up a little March Madness of our own - Toronto style. We have created a tournament ladder of recent memes, blog drama and local news and for the next two weeks, you will decide the winner of each match. Sure beats betting on Kansas State.

Austinist was in a musical frame of mind as they listened to the new Shins album, updated the SXSW band listings and got called "punk rock" for their efforts by MTV. And an ice storm swept through the area.

The urban sprawl in Toronto is a continual point of debate on Torontoist (see, for instance, our interview with Brad Lamb), but tomorrow you will get a chance to share your opinions on the matter outside of our sullied comment threads. On Monday, 7pm to 9pm at the Parkdale branch of the Toronto Public Library, fourth year students from Ryerson University will present their study of gentrification in Parkdale, followed by a moderated panel discussion and then an audience Q&A.

Sadly the quillblog is not about porcupines. However, it is the blog of Quill and Quire, Canada's magazine about the book trade. Recent posts have touched on everything from which books authors really like, Starbucks playing Oprah to the latte-sipping set and the continuing car wreck that is the OJ Simpson book.

More than a month before it's scheduled to begin, the season for harvesting crops has begun. The announcement came in the form of Starbucks' annual overhaul, which as usual is characterized by orange name plates describing an array of pumpkin-derived pastries and drinks.

You know who's going to be upset about those Bikini Bandits? The Houston school system. Houstonist also reports on some redevelopment shenanigans over a landmark theater.

This has been a rough week for your -ist pals, though you wouldn't know it from the great posts all over the network. Plagued with server problems, our tech team (led by the great Neil Epstein) toiled around the clock to solve the glitches as they arose. Seriously, we've said, typed, and thought the phrase "server problems" more in the past week than we have for the last 35 years combined. Why not say it a few more times, just for fun? For example, SFist is sure the San Francisco Chronicle wishes they could blame server problems for this error. But this San Francisco man that appeared on "The Daily Show" is, sadly, no glitch in the system.

Internet stalking has blown to outrageous proportions on the interweb and the Missed Connections page on Craigslist is the hotspot for the lonely-hearted as well as the mildly (or moderately) curious. Recent hot topics on the Missed Connections page have included the Cheese Magic boys, the Soundscapes crew, and the Euclid and College Starbucks bunch. Torontonians have brought stalking to a new level by going above and beyond daily trips to buy an extra brick of Roquefort, spend cash on rock discs, and relax with a cup of Grande Latte (on the rocks) and a wandering eye. The burning question still remains: is inter-stalking a successful endeavour?

In due time, you'll be able to fold a map of city in half, with Yonge Street as the crease, and witness the more or less symmetry in Starbucks locations on Queen Street. One Starbucks is on Queen West in Beaconsfield, site of the infamous "Drake you ho this is all your fault" tag of last year. The other is planned for Queen East in Leslieville, home of the infamous commenter Joe Clark. More importantly, West Queen West (or whatever) and Leslieville may mirror each other in more ways than coffee chains - as condos, home renovations and, eventually, higher property values begin to appear.

The Disappearing City, an exhibition of photography by David Kaufman is on now until May 28th at the Bliss Gallery, 1402 Queen Street East.

In case this week's issue of Now isn't reminder enough, tommorow is Earth Day. And there are plenty of Earth Day events around town. Downsview Park is holding a festival and massive tree planting. They're trying to plant 1000 trees so there should be plenty for all. There'll be a live animal show, face painting and Torontoist favourite, crafts!

A keen eyed Torontoist reader sent us this link, apparently Coca Cola isn't just launching Blak, a new coffee/pop beverage, in Canada but has leased a 4000 sq. foot space in Yorkville. Industry analysists suggests that Coke is trying to wrest a small part of the booming (too soon?) lucrative coffee market away from players like Starbucks.

Start growing the beards and wearing the tweed jackets with the elbow patches - Torontoist has gone all professorial.