Queen West vendors fear arrival of outdoor-gear giant
Coming of Mountain Equipment Co-op means change — and a push for answers from the city
Among the high-end retailers that line Queen St. W., Sheryl Genser’s sidewalk jewelry booth offers a glimpse back to the neighbourhood’s roots.
A new development project, however, is leaving Genser worried about the future of her 23-year-old business. Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) plans to move from its current King St. location north to Queen St. W. in 2017. The store will be housed in a new threestorey building that will go up on the corner of Soho St., on the site of what is now a parking lot.
Since the 1980s, the Queen St. sidewalk next to the parking lot has been home to a group of licensed jewelry and clothing booths including Genser. Genser has set up her portable booth at the same spot for more than two decades. She worries that once MEC moves in, the market’s vendors will be pushed out.
“I feel like we might be displaced. How are we going to be in front of Mountain Equipment Co-op? How will that work?” she said. Genser said she’s contacted the city of Toronto about her concerns but hasn’t heard back.
If she is displaced, Genser doesn’t see herself renting a shop on the strip.
“It takes away the feeling of being a street vendor,” she said, adding that the rent is also far too high.
Steven Sandford, whose wife works at Genser’s booth, recently started a petition to try and get answers from the city, local politicians and MEC.
Sandford is concerned about the homogenization of Queen St. W., even though he is not opposed to this particular development.
Once a community of independent businesses, the Queen West strip is now gentrified. Next to Genser’s booth is a Lush Cosmetics and a Starbucks. Her business, on the other hand, offers passersby something different.
“I think a lot of people see them as hippies on the street flogging jewelry, but it’s a legitimate business,” Sandford said. “They pay taxes. They pay licencing fees.”
The main target of the petition is the city, he added.
“Sheryl has asked the city several times what’s going to happen, and there hasn’t been an answer,” he said. “That, to us, is very ominous.”
On Friday afternoon, after an email from the Star regarding the matter, the city’s licensing services said they would get in touch with the vendors about their concerns. Generally, if the city decides that vendors need to leave a site, owners may be able to apply for a new licence to operate on another site in the same area. MEC spokesperson Tim Southam said the city has the last word on the matter. He said MEC is not against coexisting with street vendors.
“It may well be that they would be able to operate in the same location or elsewhere along Queen St. in a suitable place,” he said. “For MEC, our concern is that if street vendors are allowed to operate there, that they not interfere or inhibit our business.” For example, MEC wants to ensure that there are clear sightlines into the store from the street.
One of the politicians targeted by Sandford’s petition is Ward 20 City Councillor Joe Cressy, who represents the area. Cressy says his office has reached out to city staff and MEC about the issue.
“In these very early conversations, our office is committed to ensuring there’s a solution that protects these vendors and doesn’t displace them,” he said.
“What those options and solutions are, that’s what we work toward over the coming years.”