Two longtime grocery stores just shut down in Toronto

Two major, long-running grocery stores in Toronto have officially closed for good.

It was a bad weekend to be a grocery store, it seems, as two shops that were go-tos in their respective communities shut their doors for good.

Firstly, the long-anticipated closure of the Gerrard and Carlaw No Frills location finally came this weekend, with signage taken down from its ubiquitous banana-yellow tin siding on April 20.

The No Frills location is just one in a long list of businesses that will be closing in the Riverdale Shopping Centre, which is slated to be demolished and redeveloped into Gerrard Station for the future Ontario line.

The second closure marks the end of Iqbal Foods' long-standing presence in Thorncliffe Park, having closed their first-ever location after their last day in business, Sunday, April 21.

The grocery chain, which heralds itself as a "one-stop shop," for shoppers, was similarly expropriated from their location by Metrolinx for Ontario line construction, according to an earlier report by CBC News.

It's not all bad news for Iqbal frequenters, though — the grocery store is set to open a brand new branch in Scarborough soon, and has additional locations in Mississauga, Ajax and North York.

As for No Frills frequenters, they will soon have a new option at Broadview and Danforth, as the Loblaws location at 720 Broadview Ave has closed as of April 22 and will re-open on May 2 as a No Frills.