Toronto shop known for bad reviews closes after over 30 years in St. Lawrence Market

A business that has been a fixture of Toronto's iconic St. Lawrence Market for more than three decades has just abruptly shuttered without explanation — but some past customers aren't seeing the closure as a bad thing at all.

Bright Sky Jewellery has offered a wide array of new and vintage pieces on the lower level of the downtown attraction since 1993, but the stall's shiny products and lengthy tenure may not be the things it ends up best remembered for.

It has become better known among locals, unfortunately, for its abysmal 1.3-star Google rating and numerous social media comments alleging discrimination by its owners.

In one viral TikTok video from June, a shopper alleges that when she inquired about the price of an item from Bright Sky, staff told her "don't worry about it" because it was likely "too expensive" for her to afford — a statement she believes was made based on her skin colour. 

Others commenting on the video and elsewhere online say they've also dealt with  impolite treatment from employees of the stall, ranging from being yelled at and accused of stealing to just generally being treated "horribly" and with "a bad attitude."

A sampling of the negative reviews of the business, which has a 1.4 Google rating based on 58 reviews.

"Sketchy shop, mean owner. Don't know how they're still in business," reads one recent one-star Google review.

"What looks like a very cute and local store that I'd like to support ended up being run by very rude and discriminatory people," states another.

One person wrote a message to Bright Sky's owners in their review, telling them to "PACK UP AND RETIRE! You're wasting valuable space at St. Lawrence Market."

And, it seems that's precisely what those running the business have done, whether due to the rampant complaints, high rent, or for another reason.

A representative from the market confirmed to blogTO over the phone on Friday that the shop has indeed closed down permanently, substantiating at least one post that a curious passerby shared to a community Facebook group earlier in the week.

A post in a neighbourhood Facebook group showed Bright Sky's stall vacant on July 31.

"Saw them almost finished packing up around 6 p.m.," one local wrote in response to said post on Thursday. "Knew nothing about the woman being a bigot, but hopefully an awesome new business takes over."

Some speculated in the ensuing discussion that it was customers' negative experiences at the store that may have put it out of business, while others cited the aging owners' health issues.

blogTO attempted to contact Bright Sky Jewellery for comment, but the vendor's phone number appears to have been disconnected.