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Umbra

That looks great! Very Euro. A visit is in order...

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Queen West will inevitably become more mainstream and corporate in the retailers to be found there. Gap, Nike, Second Cup, etc. The transformation has happened and will now intensify. At least there are interesting developments like this new Umbra store. Not only is this famous design firm Toronto based, but it will help maintain a degree of differentiation from the normal fare to be found a thousand times over around the world.

The independent boutiques and artists have moved many blocks further west already. The 'new' Queen Street West is between Spadina and Dufferin. 'Queen West' will never die, it will just keep shifting geographically just as the main Italian neighbourhood is no longer Little Italy, but Corso Italia.

This Umbra store looks great. It's also nice to see this store not located on Queen Street, but a block north. Neighbourhoods that are linear are less dynamic than those that spread in all directions.
 
The independent boutiques and artists have moved many blocks further west already. The 'new' Queen Street West is between Spadina and Dufferin. 'Queen West' will never die, it will just keep shifting geographically just as the main Italian neighbourhood is no longer Little Italy, but Corso Italia.
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And that shift is already happening with chains such as American Apparel and the new Urban Behaviour (or is it Urban Outfitters?) building popping up west of Spadina, and a whole slew of new spots opening up in Parkdale west of Dufferin.

This Umbra store looks great. It's also nice to see this store not located on Queen Street, but a block north.
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Completey agree isaidso. Adds some great depth to that intersection.

Does anyone know how this thing is lit up at night? It looks prime to have an amazing glow with the right lighting, but with the condo looking over it, I'm assuming the lighting will be more muted.
 
I absolutely love how this one turned out - a huge improvement over the Thai restaurant that was previously there.
 
I hope this will spur some development of the little "schacks" next to it and the laneway between the two.
 
Wow.. I completely just stumbled upon a function this afternoon at the UMBRA store.
As I walked in, Adam Vaughn was walking out (I wanted to give him shit over his Club District persecution).

Will Alsop was speaking (funny guy). I watched attentively and had a chat with him later. He autographed a couple of his books I picked up from UMBRA and to top it off.. he sketched a scribble drawing of OCAD in my book! AWESOME!

As a side note, Krista Bridges (Naked Josh) was serving wine... :-D I had a crush on that girl on "Naked Josh". The show was cancelled.. and now she's stuck serving wine? Oh well...

Awesome evening!
 
Awesome. I'd love to meet Alsop one day. He just strikes me as a guy you can just chit chat with and talk about anything. No bull.
 
I was sitting in St. Patrick Square or whatever the drugdealing park is behind Queen Street Market, and in front of the Umbra store. You can see right into the store, like the back of the store is just window.
 
A nice addition to the area, indeed. Hopefully it will inspire some owners of other less than inspiring store fronts.
 
Indeed... that little corner has turned out to be quite a success story with regard to how to properly redevelop and increase the density on a tight urban site.
 
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