In Toronto the streets are lined with some of the best big names the fashion world has to offer: Roots, M.A.C., Club Monaco, Patrick Cox, Lida Baday, Franco Mirabelli - all Canadians. Some designers here even work their own stores.
The Bay (861-9111; www.hbc.com), at the corner of Yonge, has grouped the top Canadian fashion talent together in one area. Also look for cosmetic and fragrance lines, exotic tastes in the Food Hall, and Canadian art in the Thomson Gallery here in Canada's largest department store and oldest commercial venture (i.e. Hudson's Bay Co.).
A Toronto shopping experience includes everything from upscale boutiques to 1,200 stores and services in more than 6.5 miles of subterranean pedestrian concourses. First Canadian Place (862-6294; www.toronto.com/firstcdnplace) with over 120 shops, at the corner of King and Bay Streets, is the highpoint of the underground city. Street entrances are marked with 'PATH' signage. Upscale Bloor/Yorkville, centered at Avenue Road and Bloor St., W., northeast of the Royal Ontario Museum, is the shopping district of international-caliber. You'll find designer boutiques such as Chanel, Hermes, Prada and Louis Vuitton, and art galleries that are first-class. Lundstrom Retail Inc. (696-2818; www.lindalundstrom.com) with fashions for women by award-winning Linda Lundstrom, designer of LAPARKA, is here too.
Eaton Centre (598-8700; www.torontoeatoncentre.com), on Yonge between Dundas and Queen Streets, is a downtown shopping complex with more than 280 shops and restaurants under a glass roof. Just one block north is the World's Biggest Bookstore (977-7009; www.chapters.ca) stocked with more than 150,000 titles in 17 miles of bookshelves.
Queen Street West between Yonge St. and Bathurst Ave. features cutting-edge fashion, galleries, antique shops, trendy restaurants and coffee bars. The bustling bazaar-like area of Kensington Market, between Dundas and College west of Spadina Ave., has shops packed with a cornucopia of food items from Europe, the Caribbean, the Middle East, South America and Asia. Shop for nuts, lentils, mangoes or fish on the site of Toronto's first ethnic marketplace, an area that is now also a treasure trove of vintage and second hand clothing shops.
Toronto's garment district, Spadina Ave. between Dundas and Front St., has terrific bargains on local fashions, fabric, leathers and furs. For antiques check out Harbourfront Antique Market (888-263-OLDE; www.hfam.com), 390 Queen's Quay West, with more than 100 vendors, and Showcase Antique Mall (703-6255), 610 Queen St. W., with wares of 300 dealers displayed on four floors.
On Toronto's waterfront, Queen's Quay Shops at Newcourt Centre (203-0510) offers more than 50 specialty shops, many with a Canadian focus. Legendary Honest Ed's (537-1574), at 581 Bloor St. W. and one block from the Bathurst subway station, has 160,000 square feet on four floors filled with bargain basement merchandise, everything from wine to twine. A Toronto institution for 52 years, it should not be missed. 'Serve yourself and save a lot of money.'
Savvy
visitors are finding out what native New Yorkers already know: You don’t
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hundreds of no-cost and low-cost pleasures that include concerts, plays,
museum exhibitions and tours throughout all five boroughs......more
Swissotel Chicago Hotel compares well with the 209 hotels in the city. An
excellent location. Delight in unrecorded piano Monday - Friday. In Chicago,
Overlooking Lake Michigan Swissotel Chicago can be found at 323 E. Wacker
Dr. Quaint and comfortable guestrooms .... more
