alternative arts toronto

Toronto store sends locals into frenzy after for lease sign goes up

A Toronto neighbourhood is in a tizzy after a beloved business was spotted sporting a 'For Lease' sign in their window.

Alternative Arts, a shop that offers custom framing, art work and posters, has been a fixture in the Annex for 30 years, so when someone noticed a foreboding lease sign in the window, the neighbourhood completely freaked out.

"Tell me it's not so! I love Alternative Arts!" reads a post in a local Facebook group breaking the news, to which a slew of community members responded with messages of heartbreak, while others were quick to blame the building's landlords.

"The commercial landlords have no guidelines to follow," writes one commentor, while another suggests that increasing rents have been "changing the face of the neighbourhood."

I'm pleased to report, though, that the worst fears of those who believed the art shop was closing down for good were overblown: the business is simply relocating.

After three decades in the same location, Alternative Arts is taking on a brand new space just down the road, moving into the space where SOCCO Living used to operate.

Alternative Arts will continue to operate in their current location until the end of March, the business tells blogTO, before moving into their new home at 474 Bloor West.

Lead photo by

Fareen Karim


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