Shoppers Drug Mart will open at Queen and John

Shoppers Drug Mart will open at Queen and John

(Photo via Google Street View)

Last week, Urban Planet closed the doors on its massive store at 262 Queen Street West (the same building that once housed Caban), and the latest news is that Shoppers Drug Mart will be taking over the 20,000-square-foot space. The story was reported today in the National Post as the official sign of “long-coming death of Queen Street West bohemia,” though we’d never associate chain clothing store Urban Planet with bohemia.

“Obituaries for the spirit of the original Queen West have been written for years, particularly the stretch between University and Spadina,” writes Carmen Chai. “But there is a growing sense that the ongoing gentrification has finally cost the neighbourhood the character that made it famous.”

We understand the grievances of tenants being priced out of the area, but we’ll take makeup and magazines over this any day.

• Shoppers Drug Mart moves onto Queen West [National Post]