Honest Ed’s signs no longer sold for cheap, cheap, cheap
Hand-painted work is being resold online and in stores, but not for bargain prices
For those hoping to get their hands on one of Honest Ed’s hand-painted signs, you may have missed your chance to grab a little piece of Toronto history on the cheap.
Some of the distinctive signs — thousands of which were sold off before the local bargain landmark closed its doors for good in December — have popped up on Kijiji and Craigslist for between $20 and $650.
Other signs, and one shopping bag, turned up this week in the window display of a Roncesvalles Ave. store, priced from $199 to $499, framed — a significant hike from last fall’s sell-off at Honest Ed’s, where customers lined up to purchase signs and well- worn reusable shopping bags for as little as a few dollars apiece.
Soho Art and Custom Framing has about 20 for sale, all framed, said co-owner Tamar Mignon, to ensure longevity. Each one floats away from the glass and is held in place using acid-free conservation tape.
The meticulous framing partly explains the high price tag. Mignon said she’s hoping to do what she can to preserve the store’s history and the connection people here feel to it.
“Although everybody is happy about Toronto growing and becoming multicultural and international like New York, people still love oldworld stuff,” she said, noting that Ed’s landmark location at Bloor and Bathurst Sts. is being redeveloped to include condo towers.
“Everything kind of disappears. I know that’s why I want a sign. I really wanted to have a piece of that.”
How do the bargain emporium’s former employees feel about the memorabilia selling at a premium?
“We are thrilled if someone sees that much value in there,” said Russell Lazar, former longtime general manager at Honest Ed’s. “If they buy it at those prices it means that thousands of people who purchased them made a lot of money.”
The signs, he acknowledged, were originally sold at a fraction of the price that they appear to be going for now, and some went for as cheap as two or three dollars.
“It’s supply and demand, and there certainly is no supply right now, that’s for sure,” Lazar said. “The value is in the eye of the beholder . . . but when we sold them initially we wanted to make sure the masses were able to buy them.”
Lazar added that most of the real signs should have a stamp of authenticity on the back, though they might not all have one.