Coming Soon to Queen and Bathurst: Starbucks
The much maligned corner of Queen and Bathurst will get a bit of a facelift later this summer in the shape of Starbucks. The world's most loved and/or derided coffee chain is moving into the north east corner that was formerly a Mr. Sub.
Construction is already underway which means it won't be too long before two of the city's most ubiquitous chains - Pizza Pizza being the other one - share an intersection with the notorious Big Bop and The Meeting Place.
While any new, stable business is surely a good sign for this intersection, it remains to be seen whether the Starbucks will be welcomed into the neighbourhood. The stretch of Queen between Augusta and Palmerston is already stacked with cafes. Earlier this year Just Us! couldn't make a go of it as it failed to win customers from neighbourhood favourites like Tequila Bookworm and Java House.
Also nearby are a mix of newcomers including Niche and La Merceria as well as long time residents Artistic Grounds who attract a loyal following.
Nevertheless, I won't be expecting the same reaction that greeted the arrival of the Starbucks in Leslieville or further west at Dovercourt.
Comments (20)
Ahhh...I get it...I think the following link could explain a few things:
Well, this doesn't really come as a surprise. It'll be kind of funny being right across from the Meeting Place though.
Ah, Joe Clark, Mercury Coffee wouldn't last through the winter? Happy 2nd birthday, Mercury, and to many more.
There is also an ugly rumour that The Queenshead will be a Tim Horton's...... I don't know what's worse: Starbucks = giant, multinational putting smaller businesses out of business and raising rents, but decent coffee; or, Tim Horton's = giant, once Canadian hockey lovin' donut filled hang-out that puts smaller businesses out of business, and has coffee that tastes like its been strained though a nicotine flavoured dirty sock. Neither?
Frank, not sure how relevant that link is bud - posted in March of '01; got a feeling Starbucks has shifted strategy a bit since then. Thanks for the history lesson though!
Ah, wherever galleries go, hipsters and then big chains are sure to follow, squeezing out little guys like, uh, Mr. Submarine.
I'll save my genuine tears for the day when the hardware store just west of there shuts its doors and is replaced by another gallery or fashion shop.
Speaking of The Meeting Place. A couple weeks ago I was driving by and someone from behind the fence threw an empty box of Ritz Crackers right on the car in front of me...
Sorry, but Jesus I think any sort of established business going into the area will be GOOD for everyone. That includes a Tim Hortons at the old Queens Head which has been like five different places since I moved to Toronto.
I've heard that Starbuck's isn't doing quite as well as it used to do, and that they aren't planning on opening up as many stores as they did back in the old days.
It's a short walk either way down Queen to a much better coffee spot. Starbuck's goes for the "whatever is familiar is best" crowd of passers-by though, not people who care to find something better.
LAT-
I lived around there for a decade, and I saw things I'll never forget. The only establishment that came close to having such a bad impact on the area was Bassmint. By day, you had Meeting Place regulars on your back steps huffin' glue and takin' dumps. By night, it was drugged-out, pacifier-wearing suburban Bassmint teens having social crises.
I'm not a Starbucks fan, but...
I can't see them lasting there... between sketchy days and punked out nights, it's just such a ill-fitting spot for a Starbucks' neutral-toned conservative style.
Sorry folks, but this is progress. If you want true grunge move to Scarlem. This space is too valuable to waste.
While they're at it, they should nuke that halfway house on the northwest corner. This area has so much potential if you can just expunge the filth!
Tony...I have been searching for the exact words to describe that horrible Tim Horton's taste for a decade now, and you nailed it with - "tastes like it's been strained though a nicotine flavoured dirty sock." - Brilliant, I'm so using that!
Notice the green notice signs in the picture? I wonder if Starbucks finally feels "safe" enough to enter the neighborhood now that the CCTV cameras are there.
I've worked at Queen & Bathurst for a couple of years now (in the Orient Building seen in the picture) and I've never experienced any of the problems that people seem to think go on here. It's a mixed-class neighborhood and has been for a good while, but I'm hoping that when a business like Starbucks and their clientele start looking around, they don't start complaining about the "filth" and try to make it go away. Gentrification's ugly side likes to think that they can make what they don't want to see disappear, even if it's not theirs to make disappear, but it ends up pushing places like The Meeting Place further into society's wasteheap, and that doesn't help anyone involved. I sincerely hope that the addition of Starbucks won't change the dynamic of the neighborhood as much as most people think it will, but I don't know exactly what to expect when it opens.
On the other hand, I can't believe how fascinated we are with the fact that a store is opening somewhere. Isn't this borderline obsession, or something?
Lived just north of there for a few years and it amazes me how grunge that corner is compared to north and south of that intersection. (North isn't great, but vastly better than Q&B).
Anyways, I think this type of development is highly needed here. I give props to Lalot (just north of Q&B) for taking the risks first and popping in that neighbourhood. There are plenty of upper-class, middle-class, and ... Meeting place people in the neighbourhood. It is time this neighbourhood reflected the people who live in the area more. Enough of the F*cking squeegy kids, I tell you every single morning NO.
I've been living near Queen and Bathurst for the past couple of years and I didn't understand why the cameras went up a couple of weeks ago. Now perhaps it makes sense. I've never actually seen any crime at that intersection, there's a lot of panhandling and general 'out-of-it'ness, and probably some low level drug dealing in the alleys, but I feel a lot safer around here than I did when I lived in the 'Entertainment' district.
It's certainly not surprising Starbucks would open up here, there's a new condo going up at Portland, a block away, and the Burroughes building next to the Bebop club is being condo-ized by the same people, Tribute Communities. There seems to be a general development push, and the destruction of half that block in the recent fire heralds more development.
Strategically they're placing themselves in between two Second Cups, one at Palmerston and one at Augusta. There is a Starbucks at Claremont and another at Spadina, but you'd have to pass by a Second Cup to get to either of those, and the Spadina & Richmond Starbucks is always really busy.
Is Tim Hortons really opening in the old Kings Head? That seems really out of place around here for some reason.
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