A new Loblaws will be opening next to Kensington Market on College and Spadina. The project was first proposed in 2011, and was accepted last January. A petition to counter the project has been created by Friends of Kensington Market, an organization whose goal is to protect the neighbourhood.
On one side, you have Loblaw Companies Limited, which owns Loblaws, the biggest Canadian food retailer owned by the Weston family — the second-wealthiest family in Canada. Galen Weston, whose fortune amounted to $US 10.4 billion in 2014, is CEO of the company. On the other side of the conflict is Kensington Market, which is represented by small, independent family businesses who do not possess great economic power compared to the gigantic corporation. The introduction of a Loblaws in Kensington Market represents a significant economic threat that could lead many businesses to bankruptcy, and spell the slow destruction of Kensington Market.
It is unfortunate to see corporate greed win out over a longstanding cultural hotspot in the city. Loblaws will do anything to drive out its direct competition for its own monetary benefit. The security of the businesses in Kensington Market that offer similar products and services is the least of Loblaw’s concern. The extent to which the new Loblaws would affect Kensington Market is unknown, but in any case, there will be permanent damage.
The dilemma about a big corporation opening next to Kensington is not only the risk of small businesses disappearing, but also about the culture, the character, and the history that they bring to the city that could end up fading away. A corporation like Loblaws has no way to replace the culture the market brings to Toronto. By virtue of being a chain, it is a bland, big-box store already found on many of the city’s street corners. It would not bring anything new or original to the neighbourhood. Loblaws’ products would also be a copy-paste of other supermarket chains, while Kensington offers unique and diverse products. As a chain, it offers a cold atmosphere in comparison to the warmth of the shops currently located in the neighbourhood. Overall, Loblaws is dull compared to Kensington shops.
If the citizens and the city let these kinds of projects establish themselves around neighbourhoods like Kensington Market without saying anything, slowly but surely, small businesses will close. The city would slowly change until these shops disappear completely, to be replaced by a bunch of condos, and corporate chains.
This might seem like an over-dramatization of the issue, but it is entirely possible if we do nothing. In Kensington’s case, if Loblaws establishes itself in the neighbourhood, small businesses simply will not have the economic security and power to be able to survive in the long run. Nothing makes Toronto immune to the threat of severe gentrification. We have seen it recently with the closure of the World’s Biggest Bookstore, Honest Ed’s, and the Princess of Wales Theatre, and this could only be the beginning. Why should we risk the chance of losing more cultural landmarks in the hands of those who most likely only care about their own profits?
Alexandre Darveau-Morin is a second-year student at Woodsworth College studying anthropology, East Asian studies, and Spanish.
