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| New home for Longo’s |
There’s word tonight by way of a corporate blogger that the Longo’s store in Leaside Village on Laird Drive will open for business on Wednesday, August 22, 2012. That’s five days ahead of the new CIBC branch, which is scheduled to open August 27. As many people will know, the nicest thing about the grocery store’s decision to locate in Leaside is that the supermarket will be housed in the restored locomotive maintenance building of the Canadian Northern Railway Eastern Lines which was built in 1919 by Great Northern. For years local historians have looked at pictures of the forlorn vacant building and wondered what might become of it. That question was answered when First Capital Realty obtained permission to build Leaside Village and Longo’s took a lease on the historic building. By way of background, the name of the firm is Longo Brothers Fruit Markets Inc. It is a family-run grocery chain with 24 stores in the Greater Toronto Area. Longo’s was founded by brothers Tommy, Joe, and Gus Longo in 1956, who established their first store at the intersection of Yonge Street and Castlefield Avenue in Toronto. This store was about 2,000 square feet and had eight family members working there. The Longo brothers opened their second store in 1962, on Woodbine Avenue. A 25,000-square-foot flagship store was opened recently in Maple Leaf Square in Downtown Toronto near Air Canada Centre. Post from January 25, 2011
