There’s an expression about being a fly on the wall, and many people would like to have had that chance during the horsetrading that went on between Shoppers Drug Mart, Dollarama and the landlord of the double space at 1531-1533 Bayview north of Millwood. It may be an urban legend but it’s widely believed that Shoppers was prepared to do whatever it took to make sure the space it was leaving when it moved up the street did not suddenly become a Rexall Pharma Plus store. Shoppers must have been stung when it moved into new premises a few years ago at 759 Mt. Pleasant Rd to find that two seconds later Rexall was setting up in Shoppers former premises across the street at 732 Mt Pleasant. Now it’s true that a Rexall Pharmacy on Bayview would have left them with three stores in close proximity. There’s already one on Moore Ave beside the Loblaw and another in Sunnybrook Plaza. But who wanted to take the chance that Rexall might move in anyway if it had an opening? The enormous time that has gone by before Dollarama even began to set up, suggests something was afoot.
