Think Toronto's streets all look the same? This city councillor wants to limit chain stores
A city councillor wants Toronto to consider measures that would curb the spread of retail chains that he says are homogenizing the city's streets.
Coun. Mike Layton is putting forward a motion asking the city to look into alternatives that would encourage retail diversity, a move he believes could help smaller business owners.
It's a move prompted in part by the upcoming closure of Toronto's Hard Rock Cafe, the second in the world and a fixture at Yonge-Dundas Square, announced in March. The live-music venue and artistic hub is making way for a Shoppers Drug Mart.
But that's not the only example of chains wiping out signature features of the city, Layton says.
'A large-scale drug store, a large-chain coffee store, maybe a bank'
"But we see the same formula for retail in every new condominium development. You get a large-scale drug store, a large-chain coffee store, maybe a bank and then there's one small space that's unique and it's maybe a dry cleaner," he said. "We need to change that."
The motion will call for the city to explore what measures are used by other cities in North America and around the world to encourage a diversity of commercial uses within a neighbourhood, Layton says.
San Francsico, for example, uses a policy called Formula Retail Use, meant to "maintain the character and purpose of distinct areas" in that city. The policy regulates retailers with eleven or more locations worldwide that have a "standardized" array of merchandise, facade signage and decor.
Layton says such a strategy could play a part in level the playing field for smaller businesses hoping to enter the retail space, by potentially making it more expensive for larger chains to set up shop.
"They would see that there's a new cost of entry for them that wouldn't exist for a smaller retailer," he said.
And the move could be a boon to tourism too, Layton argues.
"People aren't necessarily driven by large big box stores in Toronto. They come here because they want to walk down a Queen Street, a Yonge Street, a College Street ... and experience the fabric of the neighbourhood," he said.
"They don't need to see the same 10 stores that they see in the strip mall near their house wherever they are in North America.
Bill Marinaris, who runs Frankies Burgers in the Queen Street West and Ossington Avenue area, says he's in favour of anything that maintains the character of the neighbourhood.
"It's becoming scary, where everything that's popping up on the same corners in different neighbourhoods, everything's looking the same," Marinaris said.
"I've seen actually a lot of people move out of this area because big-name stores are coming to the area and they don't want that."
