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| Paul Oliver |
The Urban Nature Store is nestled just east of Tim Horton’s in the Dawsco mall on Brentcliffe Road near Vanderhoof Ave. Canada Post calls it 939 Eglinton Ave. E. but it’s really around the corner. Inside Urban Nature, Leaside shoppers are greeted with a near riotous array of spring and summer merchandise. Here you will find a dozen varieties of bird seed, both conventional and squirrel proof, fat bags of peanuts and seed blocks suitable for feeding just about any fauna known to the Don Valley, heated birds baths, an ornithological subdivision of bird houses and what seems like a zillion entertaining oddments for kids, including the original 6-sided bug puzzle. The genial boss here is Paul Oliver. Mr. Oliver and his partner Jeff Tekavcic are some 12 year into a nature and tree care business which extends to five GTA locations and an international mail order house facilitated by the Internet. By any measure, they are an admirable success story. Mr. Oliver tells his company’s story in deceptively simple style. Although he shrugs off the label of scientist it is clear that the two entrepreneurs have a grasp of their products that goes beyond that of most retailers. Urban Nature contracts with various firms to manufacture the seed and nutritional supplement that are sold in Canada and the U.S. They own the formulas and the names. It is an impressive accomplishment and the store is worth a visit even if you aren’t a birder or like to feed the deer in the wild.
