Grand & Toy, once the go-to place for office supplies in Toronto, will shut down its remaining stores over the next few months in response to weak retail sales. The brand will, however, remain in place for online sales, which comprise the vast majority of its revenue today. Founded back in 1882 with its first stores at Bay and Adelaide in 1926, the demise of the bricks and mortar locations doesn't come as much of a surprise given the rise of box-style office supply stores.

Despite being swallowed up by the U.S.-owned OfficeMax chain years ago, Grand & Toy's smaller format stores just couldn't hold pace with its bigger counterparts. According to a report in the Star, only three per cent of Grand & Toy's sales came from walk-ins. I guess that's why spotting a customer in one of these stores was rarer than a UFO-sighting. Still, it's not without a little wistful nostalgia that one bids goodbye to what was once a Toronto fixture.