There are reports Monday night that the long-time healthy food restaurant Chai on Bayview Ave. is closed. This small restaurant located at 1577 Bayview broke ground in the bouyant times on South Bayview after the turn of the century. It was run during its final years by Lambert Moo. There will be further information on the situation with Chai on Bayview reported here tomorrow.
Change of plan: Saks will open at Eaton Centre
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| 1896 building to be Saks |
Hudson’s Bay Co. has surprised business and consumer interests this morning (Monday, January 27, 2014) by announcing that it will open a Saks store at the corner of Yonge and Queen Streets in the iconic old building that once housed the Robert Simpson Company. The move appears to be motivated at least in part by the announcement that another U.S. retail name, Nordstrom, will occupy the former Sears (and previously Eaton’s) store in the Eaton Centre. It was also announced that Hudson Bay will open a Saks at the Sherway Gardens Mall in Mississauga. As part of the deal, Hudson Bay will sell the Yonge and Queen property and an adjoining office tower to the owner of The Toronto Eaton Centre, Cadillac Fairview. Hudson Bay will then lease back the store and tower for a 25 year period with an option to renew. The decision to open Saks at Yonge and Queen seems to put on hold for the moment the plan to open a Saks at the The Hudson Bay site at Yonge and Bloor Sts. The Globe and Mail reports that HBC chief executive officer Richard Baker said that Cadillac Fairview CEO John Sullivan convinced him to roll out Saks at the Queen Street store, where it will share space with Hudson’s Bay (previously called the Bay.) HBC acquired U.S.-based Saks Inc. last year for $2.4-billion. The suggestion is that Cadillac Fairview offered Hudson Bay an offer it found very difficult to refuse.
Beyonce tasteless at Grammy Awards
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Veteran Irene Atkinson to retire from TDSB
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| Irene Atkinson |
Trustee Irene Atkinson will end her years on Toronto District School Board by retiring at the close of her term this fall. Ms. Atkinson has served for 40 years on the board helping to develop lunch, child care initiatives and other programs. She escaped death in the spring of 2013 by the narrowest of margins when fire ripped through her home in High Park. She underwent a lengthy recovery both at St.Joseph’s Hospital and at home. On her return to the board, Ms. Atkinson sported a shirt which said “l’m not dead yet.” CTV’s Naomi Parness has a sensitive piece here in which Ms. Atkinson discusses her fire ordeal and how it has changed her. CTV
Priced at $11 million, mansion auctioned for $6.2
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Do you know the lady from Wallington, Surrey?
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She is the snapshot of another time. Serene and elegant in her own way, a perfect picture of an Englishwoman from the 1940s or 50s. To millennial generation Canadians — say aged 40 — she might be a grandmother as a younger woman. The question is: Who is she? To Trish Stuebing, owner of the Homefront table top and gift shop, it is a matter of trying to return what was obviously a valuable family photo to those who own it. Mrs. Stuebing found the picture in the shop a few months ago after a customer had shopped and purchased picture frames. “She had quite a few pictures,” says the shopkeeper. “Somehow, this one was left behind.” Now Homefront, which has operated at 371 Eglinton Ave. W. for 20 years, is about to close. “I feel an obligation to at least try to find the owner,” says Mrs. Stuebing. “I feel sure she would like to have it back.” The picture was taken in the United Kingdom. The long-since closed Langham Studio in Wallington, Surrey, was the scene of the picture-taking. Wallington has since been amalgamated into London. We are Canadians here in South Bayview
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It’s a good thing we are all Canadians. Hearty South Bayviewites carry on in the face of this frigid January. It’s a day to muffler up and go skating. Or not. Our neighborhoods have not been too troubled by the cold in recent days, even as the City has declared another Extreme Cold Alert in hopes of helping those less fortunate than we. The dramatic picture inset is from Hamilton where fire has pretty much destroyed a fine home at 23 Undercliffe Ave. No one was hurt but firefighters say it was a stinker to fight. Undercliffe is in the well-to-do realm of hilly residential streets sitting under the escarpment. Fire trucks were sliding all over the place as the crews tried to deal with the blaze. A Brighton Ontario woman was able to have her dog Baxter returned safely after it had leaped out of the car after a pileup. T0 the southwest, the Guelph Mercury is saying thatanother blast of snow and high winds today is likely to add to what has already been a treacherous weekend on Ontario’s highways and byways. Blizzard conditions stranded more than 400 people northwest of Toronto in their cars. The OPP say that since Friday evening they’ve responded to more than 1,600 crashes, including three fatal, and numerous personal injury wrecks. Eight OPP cruisers have also been struck by passing motorists resulting in minor injuries to two police officers. More than 60 road and highway closures have been ordered across the province.
Cruise ship passengers hit by vomiting, diarrhea
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The U.S. Centre for Disease Control will send doctors and experts aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Explorer of the Seas when it docks in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Sunday. The ship has about 280 very sick people aboard. Passengers report vomiting and diarrhea. In addition, another 22 crew members are ill. It is not clear what has hit the ship. A total of 3,050 passengers and 1,165 crew members are aboard the Explorer of the Seas. The CDC said Royal Caribbean officials have taken action, including increasing disinfection procedures and preparing new crew members to join the ship mid-voyage.
McDonald’s fights to win back lost relevance
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McDonald’s CEO concedes that the chain has “lost some of our relevance” is the dynamic fast food industry. New products like the egg-white McMuffin and Mighty Wings haven’t caused much of a fizz. “We’ve lost some of our customer relevance,” Don Thompson conceded on a call with analysts. Guest counts at locations fell nearly 2 percent globally and 1.6 percent in the U.S. in 2013. To win back traffic, Thompson said the chain will focus on speedier service, better value offerings and raising “awareness around McDonald’s as a kitchen and a restaurant” that prepares high-quality food. It is also bringing in a new U.S. marketing chief, Deborah Wahl, formerly with homebuilder PulteGroup and automakers Chrysler and Ford.
Employee “95% sure” fire started by cigarette
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Heartbreak is piled on heartbreak in L’Isle-Verte Quebec today as a worker at the seniors home destroyed by fire says he is “95 percent sure” the deadly fire was caused by a cigarette. Canadian Press is quoting the employee, Bruno Belanger, as saying he persuaded a resident from going outside to smoke in the cold. Later when he heard the alarm ringing Belanger went straight to the man’s room and saw smoke coming from the unit. It is a flashback to the days when careless smoking was the cause of many fatal fires. Smoking regulations, abstention from tobacco and better alarm systems have made major reductions in such deaths. It’s believed 32 old people died in the L’Isle Verte fire.
Police count 32 dead in Quebec fire
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Wong-Tam skating event today in Ramsden Park
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It’s always a good opportunity to bend the ear of your council member when she holds a public event Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 27) invites you to tie up your skate laces with her on Saturday, January 25, 2014 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Ramsden Park outdoor skating rink.