sneaker customization toronto

A Toronto sneaker studio is giving away free customization kits to cure boredom

Kicking yourself for not visiting more of the "non-essential" businesses on your things-to-do list while you still could? Before COVID-19 hit Toronto and pushed us all into self-quarantine?

You're not alone.

With all bars, cafes, nightclubs, dine-in restaurants, clothing stores, salons, schools, libraries, concert halls, sports stadiums, gyms, recreational spaces, entertainment facilities and more now closed under the order of Ontario's provincial government, weekend plans are looking grim.

But don't resign yourself to an endless string of binge-watching sessions just yet: Some of Toronto's coolest activities can actually come to you thanks to a few creative modifications.

❗️GIVEAWAY ALERT❗️ Our friends over @mackhouseinc are solving your boredom woes with their Mack at Home—a full customization kit they’ll bring (sanitized) right to your front door! WHAT YOU’LL GET: A full Mack at Home kit tailored to the shoe you’ll be customizing, which includes: - 2 @angelusdirect paints of your choice (subject to availability), 3 paint brushes, tools, finishers + your accessories: laces, lace locks and aglets. - A scheduled 1 on 1 video chat with our Mack Tech to guide you through your customization, just like the real thing. HOW TO ENTER: Go to @mackhouseinc and tag a friend on their contest post who needs to see this and let us know what shoe you’ll be customizing in their comments below. Open to GTA only. Contest closes Wednesday, March 25. #TOTogether

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Mack House Inc., located within the Stackt shipping container market at Bathurst and Front Streets, is temporarily closed to the public, like many small businesses, amid the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic.

The popular self-service sneaker customization studio can no longer offer its signature two-hour experience, but it can — and will — bring a full (and sanitized!) customization kit right to your front door, for free, if you win its newly-announced giveaway.

Open to all GTA residents, the giveaway contest is open now and closes on March 25. Entrants need only to tag a friend in the comments section of this post and let Mack House know which shoe you'd like to customize.

The new "full Mack at Home" kit includes two Angelus Direct leather paints of the winner's choice, three paint brushes, custom laces, lace locks, aglets and all tools and finishers necessary to complete the customization job.

More importantly, it also includes a 1 on 1 video chat with a Mack Tech guide to help you through the entire process — which I can say from experience is 100 per cent necessary unless you're already a kick-modding pro.

And if sneakers aren't your thing, fret not: Mack House is far from the only local business changing up its operations to provide customers with entertainment from afar.

Not only can you order tons of delicious food and drink right to your door, you can get DIY pizza kits from some of the city's best pie-makers, free delivery from local book stores, purchase groceries from a virtual farmer's market and even peruse the ROM and AGO from the comfort of your couch.

It's not ideal, but it's better than watching Contagion on Netflix again, I promise.

Lead photo by

Mack House


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