Out and About back on South Bayview

by  • 

The familiar balloon hat clown Out and About was back on South Bayview today. He’s here every year as part of a promotion by the Source Men’s Wear. This year he was working hard to keep spirits up on a windy and chilly day. Last year he had brighter weather and did a brisk business in face painting and hats. This evening Source will again have its annual promotion with patio heaters and weather tent on the street to keep everybody cosy.

Gap to close 189 stores in U.S. and Canada.

by  • 

The Gap clothing chain is closing stores in the U.S. and Canada while expanding in China. The company says it will shut down 189 North American locations by the end of 2013. with an eye on the blossoming Chinese luxury consumer, Gap says it will at the same time bump up its stores in that country to 45. .In its latest quarter, revenue at Gap’s North American stores fell by 3%.

Damage estimated at more than a $1,000,000

by  • 

An early morning fire on South Bayview has left Leaside Cleaners and The Flower Nook badly damaged. Smoke damage is noticeable to adjoining businesses although McSorley’s Tavern has already re-opened. The NIMA currency exchange will be closed for a period.. There may have been smoke damage to other businesses as well. An adjuster on the scene said the cause was probably electrical and appears to have started in the cleaning store.. He agreed that damage could well exceed a million dollars. Several people were forced out of their upstairs homes. No one was hurt.

School uniforms advice from principal

by  • 

Students wearing school uniforms in our area may be targeted because they are thought to come from affluent families and to carry cash, credit cards and expensive cellphones, according to Allan Hardy, principal of Greenwood College at Davisville Ave and Mount Pleasant Rd. Advice to the effect that girls may not wish to wear uniform skirts on the TTC was given by the police and passed on to the students. But Hardy said the advice was not intended to be sexist and was directed at all students. Two girls wearing uniforms on the TTC had complained to police about how a man was behaving towards them.

Occupy Toronto on Saturday

by  • 

You may wish to occupy your home instead but if you’re planning to go downtown be aware that Occupy Toronto will be planted there with whatever that may bring. All the best to you and to the City.

Sobeys splits up its grocery businesses

by  • 

Some analysts may wonder what Sobeys is doing as it announces that it will split the grocery chain into two business units, IGA Operations and Multi-Format Operations. Part of the speculation will flow from the brevity of the statement. The IGA Operations business unit includes the banners IGA and IGA Extra, Les Marches Tradition, Marche Bonichoix, and Rachelle-Bery in Quebec. They will continue to be led by Marc Poulin. The Multi-Format Operations business unit includes the banners Sobeys, Thrifty Foods, Sobeys Urban Fresh, Foodland, IGA stores in Western Canada, FreshCo, Needs, Fast Fuel and Sobeys’ liquor operations.

Nov 30 new date for Pottery Rd opening

by  • 

A brief news statement tonight says the City now expects that Pottery Rd. will be re-opened on Wednesday, November 30, 2011. Pottery Road has been closed since May 24 and was expected to open Sept. 5. But, as reported here, the opening was delayed because of what appears to have been a miscalculation in the construction of the expanded roadway. A retaining wall designed to hold up the earthen side of the ravine near Broadview Ave. wasn’t quite up to the job. A check of the calendar will show that repairing or re-building the wall will take six weeks. Previous story.

Segar is now Modern French Kitchen

by  • 

Segar, the restaurant one door south of Satay on the Road, has raised a new sign. This one replaces the name Segar with “Modern French Kitchen.” It is apparently felt that the new sign might give potential customers a little more on which to focus.

Yogurty’s comes to Sunnybrook Plaza

by  • 

The spot in the Sunnybrook Plaza previously occupied by Paws and Claws has been taken by a large chain of franchised frozen yogurt outlets named Yogurty’s. Yorgurty’s apparently started in Toronto in 1987 and in recent years has seen considerable expansion. There is a list of shops on its website both operating and planned almost entirely in Ontario. They number some 25. There are also shops, again both open and planned, in Mexico and Costa Rica. Clearly Yogurty’s is on a roll. The product is said to be rich and creamy frozen yogurt that tastes like ice cream. Meantime, Paws and Claws has moved to South Bayview in the block north of Fleming Cres. .

Meters back as sidewalk mystery rolls on

by  • 

Overnight has brought the return of the parking meters to the east side of Bayview Ave. They were taken away you may recall in August when the frenzy of sidewalk construction was at its peak. But then, nothing. The meters were gone and so were the hot-to-trot sidewalk fix-it boys. Read more.

RIM hits You Tube to apologize for outages

by  • 

In a video apology posted Thursday morning RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis apologized to customers, saying “We’ve let many of you down.” He said email and texting services are returning to normal, but cautioned it’s too soon to say whether the outage has been fully resolved. Later, the company announced that the service is now up but there is no full explanation yet of what went wrong.

Biker mowed down by African Hartabeest

by  • 

They are closing on six million plays of this truly fascinating video of a mountain biker, Evan van der Spuy of Team Jeep South Africa, as he gets taken out by a Red Hartebeest. This happened during the Time Freight Express MTB race at Albert Falls Dam in South Africa. Note with the video says it was taken by his teammate Travis. Did the animal think Evan was lunch or what?