We Canadians are a design savvy lot and retailers are taking note. Four years ago saw the arrival of the US-based retailer West Elm (part of the Williams-Sonoma family), and just a month prior, Crate
& Barrel got its foothold in the Canadian market with stores opening in Toronto and Calgary. Now, Crate & Barrel's younger, hipper sibling, CB2, has finally followed in the stylish
path laid before it.
Not only has it taken up residence on shopping Mecca Queen St. West, it's
also brazenly nested in the old Big Bop Concert Hall & Nightclub.
Once known as Toronto's hardcore rock venue, the music genre was
literally personified in the building's former exterior of peeling
purple paint and faded, grimy brickwork.
The two-story structure is, believe it or not, a heritage building, a
reminder that Toronto does indeed have some redeemable
architecture within its urbanscape of bordered-over Victorian mansions
and newly-constructed "soft lofts." Although its previous state was that
of disarray and neglect, someone, somewhere must have thought, "There
are some good bones underneath those rags."
The CB2 team stripped the brick (replacing some of it where it disintegrated into sawdust-like craters), completely gutted the interior, and kept a few artifacts of nostalgia (the New Wave-styled signage and an old metal door hang prominently on the second floor).
The design direction for their furniture offerings is definitely modern, but not ultra so. The price points are reasonable, although some of the upholstered pieces will run you into the four digits (how can you do quality upholstery any other way, I ask you?).
The colour stories this season include bright turquoise, orange, and green, with plenty of grey variants and whites to offset. Like all stores of its stripe, the accessories--the fun bits and bobs--are the most attainable, and there is an entire section devoted to entertaining essentials and tabletop wares.
Who will shop here? You, me, contemporary-cool types (and if you're wondering, no, it's not exactly an Ikea clone--the pieces are a bit more sophisticated; better constructed), and anyone looking for relatively accessible style. Sure, CB2 may resides a few subway stops outside of downtown edginess, but it's still very far away from the traditional 'burbs (figuratively and literally).
Still, it's ironic that a mainstream American mass retailer would replace the former temple of youth counter culture in this city. Detractors say the last thing we need is another big box store to gentrify the neighbourhood (too late, as per the Starbucks across the street and the Joe Fresh a few doors down). But, if we are to learn one thing from the young idealists (now largely advertising execs and dot-commers) who once held the majority in this part of town, it's that everyone grows up, gets a decent job, and at some point wants a really nice coffee table.
CB2 is now open in Toronto with plans to open another location in Vancouver later this year.
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