Hard Rock Cafe to close at Yonge-Dundas Square
Restaurant that opened in 1978 amid Toronto’s burgeoning rock scene to be replaced with Shoppers Drug Mart by end of 2017
The Hard Rock Cafe in Yonge-Dundas Square will be closing its doors in May when its lease runs out. It will be replaced with a Shoppers Drug Mart, set to open by the end of 2017, according to a spokesperson.
But the café’s organization is “committed to a strong brand presence in Canada,” according to a statement from Hard Rock International. The restaurant serves burgers and brews, and opened in 1978 amid Toronto’s burgeoning rock scene that boasted the likes of Rush and Max Webster. It was the international chain’s second establishment.
“Hard Rock International is reviewing other opportunities, both in Toronto and elsewhere in Canada, to expand its café, hotel and casinos brands,” the statement read.
“It’s really a function of rent at the end of the day,” said Graham Smith, the vicepresident of Ashlar Urban Realty Inc.
The restaurant’s lease was up for renewal and the owner was asking for $2 million a year, plus taxes and other expenses, which could be in excess of $300,000, Smith said.
“It’s really a function of rent at the end of the day.” GRAHAM SMITH ASHLAR URBAN REALTY INC.
Richard Powers, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, said a changing demographic and branding may be to blame for the Hard Rock Cafe’s closing.
“HRC has roots in the rock culture of days past — their branding reflected that,” Powers wrote in an email to the Star. “As new agers choose to spend their disposable income, they are making different choices, and unfortunately HRC has not kept up with new trends — as that was not their mandate. They pushed the ‘old.’”
Mark Garner, executive director of the Downtown Yonge BIA, said Yonge-Dundas Square is the “No. 1 tourist destination” in the city. Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam of Ward 27 said “it is also the busiest intersection in Canada.”
Councillor Wong-Tam said the café’s closing is “unexpected” as it is “such a Toronto fixture.”
“I hope they don’t go too far because I think they’ve got a loyal audience of people who would love to see them stick around the neighbourhood,” she said.
The loss of the Hard Rock Cafe in this neighbourhood is “terrible,” Garner said, and Torontonians will “be losing the patio café component of the Hard Rock Cafe too.”
“Honestly, during the playoffs and for all our pro sports teams, these places are packed,” Garner said. “People come out to congregate and celebrate. Anytime the Raptors win, everybody comes out.”
But it’s more important that “the brand survives,” Garner said.
“There’s a lot of Canadian archives in there from various Canadian bands that have played Maple Leaf Gardens or had an iconic role, so making sure that that archive does not disappear and that it’s still accessible to Canadians, especially Torontonians, is a big priority,” Garner said.
Torontonians said they would miss the café, which has become a staple of the neighbourhood for many.
Jim Frape, 66, from Orillia, Ont., called the Hard Rock Cafe his “spot” with his son while he attended Ryerson, where the two would have lunch or supper and a beer.
“Whenever I didn’t feel like shopping, my family would rip through the Eaton Centre while I talked Fender over Gibson with the bartender and had a cold one or two,” Frape said.
“Also the Hard Rock was the spot to go on show night if you had the hot ticket for a play down the street or to see Buddy Guy at Massey.”
“It is almost sacrilege to see a Shoppers go in there!”
For Pedro Da Silva, a Belgian flight crew member for Brussels Airlines who was in town for work, the Hard Rock Cafe is where he goes when he’s in Toronto.
“There’s good music, it’s a nice place,” he said. “It’s always a good time.”
Councillor Wong-Tam said, when Shoppers Drug Mart does take over the lease, we “don’t know what the new retail experience will be.”
“We could be seeing a really unique flagship concept store,” she said. “I doubt we’ll see the same red and white Shoppers Drug Mart that has become ubiquitous. It might be something different but I don’t know the details. That might be wishful thinking.”
A spokesperson for Shoppers Drug Mart said she did not have any “additional information on the layout, size or services.”
Hard Rock International has two other locations in Canada: a Hard Rock Cafe in Niagara Falls and a Hard Rock Casino in Vancouver. With files from Azzura Lalani