June
3
2010
By Diane Ring
We’ve just been lucky enough (or unlucky enough, from our bank account’s perspective) to have one of our favourite shops open up in our front yard.
The Drake Hotel is many places in one: part hotel, part restaurant and bar, part nightclub. Somehow in pulling all these pieces together, The Drake succeeds across the board. So it’s no surprise that The Drake’s version of a hotel gift shop is an eclectic collection of bits and bobs that brings to mind a well curated living room rather than a postcard shop. And according to co-directors Carlo Colacci and Joyce Lo, that sentiment is exactly true: their homes tend to be carbon copies of the stores.
The Drake Hotel’s General Store first opened along Toronto’s trendy West Queen West strip. Only a year later they opened a second store in the posh Rosedale area. Lucky for Trufflepig, their third instalment is opening in the up and condo-filled King West locale; only a hop, skip and four flights of stairs away from our office.
It’s a shop you visit not to find a Toronto postcard, but rather to seek out gifts that actually deliver sentiment. Carlo and Joyce have picked pieces with flavour and style, with a sense of place not just flash. Featured items include locally designed and crafted T-Shirts of the Shared brand, RCAF/RCMP/CBC carry-all sacks (perfectly sized for your next safari), and Hudson’s Bay inspired travelling coffee mugs. I could ramble on about the random assortment of gems you’ll come across, but instead I suggest stopping by the shop, picking up an item or two, and then coming over to our Toronto office to share your finds.
When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, and when a shop that suits just your sensibility lands across the street, you must shop.
Diane Ring's wallet will now be in serious peril every lunch hour. Get in touch with her for more Toronto shopping suggestions, and click here for more information on Trufflepig.