At this Toronto landmark, shopping is an adventure.
WHIRLING MIRVISH
In a world dominated by blandly efficient corporate chain stores, Honest Ed’s is one of a kind—an old-fashioned emporium, a one-stop shop where filling your cart is an adventure. The retail space, 160,000 square feet spread over two buildings, takes up an entire Toronto city block. The enormous red-and-gold sign outside, modeled after a theater marquee, lights up with 23,000 electric bulbs after dark.
Inside is a mind-boggling array of merchandise—toothbrushes, toaster ovens, cereal bowls, parkas, alarm clocks, Vienna sausages, you name it—all of it marked with hand-painted signage; Ed’s employs two full-time sign painters, who at one point could each turn out between 70 and 80 placards a day.
Honest Ed’s reflects the larger-than-life personality of its namesake. Ed Mirvish, born in 1914, founded his store in 1948, cashing in his wife’s $214 insurance policy to raise money for the stake. Honest Ed’s began as a bargain basement, trafficking in factory seconds and fire-sale items. It was a no-frills establishment—merchandise was displayed on orange crates—but it proved immensely profitable.
ED HEADS
Mirvish had a great passion for theatre. He used his fortune to purchase and refurbish playhouses in Toronto and in the U.K.—he was knighted for his work saving London’s Old Vic. His sense of the theatrical carried over into the operations of Honest Ed’s. Before his death in 2007, Mirvish concocted many publicity stunts, some of which have become community events. On the first Sunday in December, the store gives away 10,000 pounds worth of free Christmas turkeys and fruitcake. And every July, Honest Ed’s throws a street party, in honor of Ed Mirvish’s birthday.
The store has struggled since Mirvish’s death. In fact, the building was put up for sale in July 2013—the store’s future is uncertain.
Evansburg, AB, elects a town grouch, licensed to pester and harass.