This has both been reported and refuted over at Urban Toronto and Macrumors.  However, if true, it’s a great idea.  Stollery’s is old and tired and looking more and more out of place as the Bloor-Yorkville area develops.  It might for many, but with new condos being built and trendier stores moving in, it’s time for this old shop, which has been part of the neighbourhood for decades, to move on.

A flagship store in Toronto has been rumoured for years.  For a while, it was said that the store would open just across the street, at 1 Bloor Street East. However, construction for the new condo at that spot might take years to complete, while Stollery’s can empty out within months (other possible flagship locations that I’ve heard include College Park (very unlikely, considering its proximity to the Eaton Centre, where there is a standard mall-sized store) and Liberty Village (not central enough)).  Though it’s next to impossible for a new flagship to open in time for the rumoured iPhone 5 launch later this year, I’m kind of hoping that it would open sooner rather than later.  The area just south of Bloor heading south towards College can get a little sketchy at times.  If Apple opens, it could lead to other nicer boutiques or eateries – chain or independent – doing the same in the area, and therefore revitalizing it.  Those cheap t-shirt shops, as quirky as they can be, are really a waste of space, space that can be used by a collective group of up-and-coming designers.  Of course, we’ll just have to see over the next few months on whether it is true.

Image via Macrumors