Honest Ed's Famous Bargain Store in Toronto

The skyline of Toronto

I have just come back from two weeks in Toronto and New York. I had a fabulous time. It was my first time in Toronto and I really loved it. It has a great vibe and a great theatre precinct. I will be posting about my trip to New York in the next few weeks (including my review of the Sex and the City tour!), but for now, let me share with you one of the quirky shops in Toronto - 'Ed's Famous Bargains' . . .

I stumbled upon this store by accident, walking from my B&B one day in search for pho (the area is called Korea Town, and is full of great Asian restaurants). Its the type of store you don't see anymore (at least not in Australia). I love these old fashioned stores and this is one of the best I have ever seen.

Honest Ed's is actually named after the original owner, Ed Mirvish. He opened the store in 1948 and it was a huge success. You can read all about the history of the store on their website here.

As you can probably tell, it is a really quirky store - look at some of these slogans on the building - 'Honest Ed's repulsive, but his bargains are appealing!'. Classic. A bit more imaginative than 'Myer, My Store' (which is a department store in Australia).

The inside of the store is full of movie memorabilia and photos of famous people who have come into the store. It is a really fun place to shop. . . as the next photo reflects: 'Wasn't that fun!'.

It is a discount store, so it is definitely not the place to go for designer/high end merchandise, but it is great for toiletries (like sunscreen etc) and really good if you were furnishing a flat on a budget (lots of cheap china), but not great for clothes I would say. But who cares, it is chock-a-block full of character and well worth a visit if you are in Toronto. It is located close to a subway stop, not far from the city. Directions are here.

Stay tuned for some posts on New York next week!