The retail conundrum

From "The kid conundrum: Roncesvalles is rumoured to be the child capital of Canada. Laura Lind explores why retailers geared to this age group are having problems," in the Toronto Magazine section of the National Post.

In any case, the sudden, unprecedented and perhaps mythical influx of children hasn't helped some of the child-friendly businesses started in the neighbourhood.

The Cookery Doo, a Roncesvalles gourmet food establishment aimed at children, closed its doors in the spring after only a year of operation. Owner Stephanie Phillips says she's still in business, just not on Roncesvalles, where she says her space was too big. She's temporarily running cooking classes out of the Swansea Town Hall and plans to re-open another storefront on Roncesvalles or in Bloor West Village by mid-October.

But Phillips admits the Cookery Doo didn't have enough customers. "If you have a children's business, you can't just rely on the neighbourhood," she says, "you have to appeal to all of Toronto. We were packed on weekends, but weekdays were not as busy as I'd hoped." In the meantime, other well-liked Roncesvalles kids' businesses, such as Soda Pop secondhand clothing and Hoola Hoop, have also closed in the past two years.

Tere Ouellette, owner of Scooter Girl Toys, says, "I have people coming in asking about Soda Pop. I ask them, 'Did you shop there?' and they say, 'No.' Then I ask, "So why are you surprised?' " ...

I was at a party in the neighbourhood and someone was talking about Scooter Girl. They didn't know me and said the store was so expensive."

Ouellette challenged him on this. "It turned out that he'd never even stepped inside. They should know that when they shop here 73% of the money they spend goes back into the neighbourhood, as opposed to 43% with chain stores," she explains, quoting Civic Economics, an Austin/Chicago-based planning consultancy.

"People have to put their money where their house is."

-- Cookery Doo
-- Scooter Girl Toys
-- Little Art Box