Honest Ed's in 2009

Honest Ed's was a discount store in Toronto that occupied most of an entire block (and, I think, owned the rest). When the store couldn't get permission to tear down some houses on the block, the store established an artists' colony in them instead.

The store began in 1948 (after expansion of an original business established in 1943) and lasted till 2016. In 2018 the entire block was razed and a new neighbourhood is building there.

My favourite memory of Ed's is in the 1970s seeing a group of Asian men in Mao suits being led goggle-eyed past the illuminated Last Suppers.

The company now concentrates on entertainment (it owns six live theatres in Toronto alone, and once owned the Old Vic) and on real estate development.

Oh, the founders were Ed Mirvish and his wife Mary.