No Frills store in Toronto closing next month and building will be demolished

A No Frills location in Toronto is officially shutting down to make way for a new subway station.

News of the impending demolition at the Carlaw and Gerrard No Frills in Leslieville first caused waves in the neighbourhood back in 2022, and, with the closure date of the store finally confirmed, debate about the closure has started up once again.

Set to become home to the Ontario Line's Gerrard Station, the grocery store will be permanently closing on April 20, with all of the staff apparently being relocated to nearby Loblaw-owned stores.

Concerns about the grocery store's closure, predominently centred around accessibility to affordable groceries in the neighbourhood, seem to have been heard and met by Loblaw, with the Broadview and Danforth Loblaw's location set to rebrand into a No Frills.

Not all locals are sold on the new No Frills location being an equal substitute for the one being lost, though.

In a community Facebook group post about the No Frills closure, one community member comments that the loss is "really sad for a lot of low income and [disabled] people and families use that [location.]"

They add that people with mobility issues and no access to a car will face the brunt of the negative impact.

In addition to being home to the future Gerrard Station, the grocery store's 2.27 hectare lot is the subject of a proposal to be redeveloped into a Transit Oriented Community (TOC), with housing units and retail alongside the station.

As of yet, the proposed Gerrard-Carlaw North TOC has not been approved.