Design Stores
WANT Passport
WANT Passport has recently opened at Billy Bishop airport. If it has one mission, it's to keep its customers in the mile high club, or at least help them get there. It's probably Toronto's sexiest travel store and is doing what it can to keep those lofty, free-wheeling 60s and 70s ideals alive.
The brainchild of Montreal's WANT Les Essentiels De La Vie(Dexter and Byron Peart, Mark Wiltzer and Jacqueline Gelber), the shop has a footprint spread over one main store and two kiosks in the departure lounge that fold out like the LV travel steamers of luxury travel yore. They stock so many brands it's hard to really list them all, or even fit them all into a carry on, but I'll do my best to highlight what caught my eye.
As a weary traveller knows, freshening up after a long flight with a good tooth brushing in the airport washroom is truly an essential, so it's no surprise that the toiletry section is one of the shop's strong points. WANT Passport features real badger hair toothbrushes from Koh-i-noor ($22) (synthetic available too, $18) as well as industrially-design Yumaki toothbrushes from Japan ($12).
And because the post-flight tidying up process can only keep one comfy for so long, WANT Passport also stocks Sweden's White Briefs sleepwear, a luxurious line of simple pima cotton pajama tops and bottoms for men and women, housed in minimalist Swedish packaging (~ $100-$200).
As one of the partners in the venture, Japanese-inspired French music and clothing label Maison Kitsune their full catalog of 14 taste-making electro artist compilations available here in both cd ($25) and vinyl ($15), as well as the small but powerful expandable accordion-like X-Mini portable bluetooth speaker ($120).
Since dancing in the aisles is probably going to annoy other passengers, amost of us probably aren't going to get much use out of this speaker in-flight. But it still packs a punch and is a great little travel gadget to have on the road.
WANT Passport is very much an accessories store which gives way to the inherent extravagances of accoutrements like cashmere eye masks ($100) and ear muffs ($170) from Flouzen and primary-coloured wellies SWIMS. And of course there are the many practical Italian leather calfskin and canvas bags, satchels, purses ($195-$1,595) and slippers ($175) that WANT made its name with.
High brow reading material like Monocle (who also have their own Toronto store and are also collaborators with WANT on other projects), is also for sale as well as minimalist yet complex CubeBots by Areaware ($28), wood block transformer type toys that should keep kids busy on their not-so-long flights out of the Toronto port.
While taking the ferry out to Billy Bishop airport might not be in the average person's daily routine, the shop is worth a browse for those looking to pick up some of WANT Passport's exclusive items without making the trek to Montreal or New York.
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Also. WTF? the prices and items are way too much
Why not just have a simple store. give me a bag of chips and a good chocolate bar, some lame cheesy magazine and tacky souvenirs.
Er, even though I think Djaman's comment was silly, I have to point something out to you: turboprops and jets burn the same type of fuel (Jet A-1).
I live on Stadium Rd for a good 4 years.
The planes are the least of the issues when it comes to pollution.
Porter is the greatest thing to happen to travel in a long time.
Canterbury Trail is right, they don't fly jets. they also don't use plastic throw away cups because they are an eco-friendly company.
Why would someone come on here and trash a store that isn't targeting them or a company that they clearly know nothing about.... go away.
That's not really the point. A Honda civic and a Hummer can also use the same type of gasoline. More relevant is the fact that turboprops generally use 25 to 40 per cent less fuel and produce up to 50 per cent fewer CO2 emissions than similarly-sized jets. And Canterbury Tail was mainly pointing out the obvious - that by referring to jets, Djarman showed that he knows very little about Porter or the Island Airport issues.
Priorities are way off.
Turboprops are more fuel efficient than jet engines. I'm sure those 100 year old diesel ferries that are used to carry 20 people over to the island are also bad for the environment, so you may as well continue your crusade against those too.
I live on the lake and the sound of the Gardiner and drivers leaning on their horn as another blocks an intersection is 100 times worse than a plane taking off from time to time (plus the drone of a plane motor is better than those stupid Harley Davidsons).
An expensive & fancy store makes sense for the airport - lots of business people with money. Whether or not the right target market is there (youngish) is another story, though. Although there's no magazine shop, you don't really need one when they give out free newspapers, cookies, and drinks.
Q: ever wonder how porter makes a profit flying more than half empty planes out of priceless downtown real estate?
A: A sweet deal on the land from the federally controlled port authority to fly your political leaders and business elite at jacked up last minute ticket prices... paid for by you of course (either directly or expensed). Not to mention the "economic action plan" that is the island tunnel.
so, if you think about it, the money you don't have to afford these ludicrously expensive (and just plain ludicrous) knick-knacks is, actually, your money!
By the way, dipshit, how the frack do you know how hard anybody else than yourself works?
Thanks for letting everyone know you read BlogTO regularly.
Typical uneducated suburban trash.
Their bags were really stylish.
I would recommend shopping there if you're in need of travel accessories.
Every broke loser in Toronto seems to be commenting negatively.
The store looks great ... but yes they could use more magazines.