In
the City of Toronto, on the corer of Bathurst
and Bloor Street, there is a large warehouse
like building known to most people in
the city simply as Honest Ed’s.
The “Ed” in Honest Ed’s
is Ed Mirvish, a local businessman (born
1914) who moved from The States and started
a small store in 1948. The store grew
and grew until it took up a whole city
block. Inside this huge building are restaurants,
stores, theatres, and all sorts of other
stuff. It became simply easier just to
refer to it as “Ed’s”,
just like saying “let’s go
to Ed’s.”
The building is impossible to miss. There
is huge flashing sign out the front that
is one of the few signs left that is comprised
of small light bulbs and not some cheaper
light-emitter like and LED or a video
board.
While
Vegas has all but given up on these renaissance
signs, Honest Ed’s is going strong.
Honest Ed’s even expanded outside
the building, with many of the local neighbourhood
stores and businesses either owned or
formerly owned by Mr. Mirvish. He is so
prominent in the area that they named
it Mirvish Village, and it is quite and
attractive location.
The inside of the “Honest Ed’s”
building is like a maze. While not many
people know what the geeks over at the
“big box” store think about
his layout, it is interesting to say the
least. It is said that you can find ANYTHING
in Honest Ed’s if you are determined,
and there are weird urban legends about
people getting lost for days. This is
impossible of course, but going inside
might make you wonder.
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