Chess'n Math in Toronto

[Larry Bevand]

First of all I would like to thank the GTA community for your support over the last 28 years! We have prospered because of you! And we are proud of what we have accomplished!

Our lease on Mount Pleasant Road expires at the end of May 2021.

We will have been there for 13 years.

We started in Toronto on Bayview Ave. in 1993 and we had a great run. Unfortunately the building we were in was sold and it was impossible for us to work with the new landlord. The Mount Pleasant location has not been as good to us, although the landlord has been reasonable, so it was time to make a move.

Francis and I are now considering two possible locations but we are not married to either one so if you have suggestions, we are certainly open.

One is in Greektown on the Danforth. The other is on Dundas. Both locations represent a rent reduction of close to 50% but if sales go down by as much we are not winning this game....
what do they say...location...location...location.

Before we make any final decisions, I would really like to hear what you think. You can post here or send me an e-mail: bevand@chess-math.org


Sincerely,

Larry Bevand
Executive Director
Chess'n Math Association

[Sam Sharpe]

Most of my orders were online, with only one or two in-person visits. If you can get within walking distance from a subway stop, that should be beneficial for walk-ins.

[Larry Bevand]

Hi Sam,

Thanks for your support over these many years!

Both locations are near a subway station.

From what we observed, there seems to be more walk-by at the Dundas location (well at least during Covid) but that place will require some major fixing uppping.

Of course the rent is 15% more than the Danforth location...but still substantially less than Mount Pleasant.

I appreciate your feedback!

Larry

[Erik Malmsten]

Has your business suffered because of the Eglinton construction? Dundas and High Park? Dundas and Bay? Dundas and Broadview? Dundas, Ontario?

Collect first half of postal codes of your customers and make a map. How much of your business is from the north? Will they travel further south?

[Larry Bevand]

Excellent questions Erik!

Francis would know better than I but here is my perspective:

Dundas, a little west of Bathurst...

For our retail customers, unfortunately we do not ask them for their postal code :(.

With the Netflix Queen's Gambit...we were drawing from everywhere in December...on-line and in person!

Xmas was delicious :).

I will let Francis address the rest if he so chooses.

Larry

[Mike Ivanov]

Thank you Larry and Francis for all the work you put in to Toronto, generations of players were raised on Strategy games and CMA tourneys.
I imagine commercial rent would be great downtown at the moment, but maybe harder to keep down the road...
If they ever get around to the Ontario subway line, Queen/Spadina will be promising along with King/Bathurst.
If I hear of anything specific, will give a call.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

I'm only an occasional shopper and mostly looking for used books. Still remember the Bayview location and the kid classes upstairs. Mt Pleasant is also good - nearby a bus stop or a short walk from the Eglinton subway -- during trips to Hart House tournaments I made a detour to Strategy - thus the location was (is) very convenient. The parking nearby on weekends was good - easy to find and free :) Every time I came it seemed that nearby jungle of huge condos were taking over the location - Yonge/Eglinton.

As for new potential locations - no ideas. Have not been there recently. Have they changed dramatically? As I recall it was not very dense areas. Will you have enough customers and traffic? Are you looking only for a store? Will you have space for chess classes or even a club? :)

Definitely not an easy decision but that a business part with all +/-. You have more info in your hands and your choice will be great :)

[Bob Armstrong]

Hi Larry: I live near Danforth and Greenwood, a bit east of GreekTown. It is my experience that there is a fair amount of pedestrian traffic in GreekTown, more on the north side than the south side.

Bob A

[Hans Jung]

On the Bloor / Danforth subway line and close to 401/ Don Valley - wouldnt that be the greater asset?

[Larry Bevand]

Thanks to everyone for your input!

Francis has a preference for the Danforth location...and I like it too for a number of reasons.

Moving is never fun and we would have obviously preferred to stay put!

I will keep everyone in the loop as we move forward.

Larry

[Erik Malmsten]

Excellent questions Erik!

Francis would know better than I but here is my perspective:

Dundas, a little west of Bathurst...

For our retail customers, unfortunately we do not ask them for their postal code :(.

With the Netflix Queen's Gambit...we were drawing from everywhere in December...on-line and in person!

Larry

Dundas and Bathurst isn't close to a subway. Driving is poor over streetcar tracks. Close to food at Kensington Market and Chinatown.

The Danforth is a wealthier area, close to east-west subway and Don Valley, probably more foot traffic. You can participate in the annual Taste of the Danforth. Holy Name Catholic School has four outdoor chess tables. A little east is a French store, Bistro Normandie, and Face to Face, a successful games store ( Magic card tournaments)

[Erik Malmsten]

Thank you Larry and Francis for all the work you put in to Toronto, generations of players were raised on Strategy games and CMA tourneys.
I imagine commercial rent would be great downtown at the moment, but maybe harder to keep down the road...
If they ever get around to the Ontario subway line, Queen/Spadina will be promising along with King/Bathurst.
If I hear of anything specific, will give a call.

The Ontario subway line will also go to Danforth and Pape (in the far future).

King Spadina to Bathurst services condo land. Lots of young people go out for coffee or beer. But do they shop mostly online?

There are the Snake and Lattes games bars (with chess) just west of Bathurst and College and Bathurst and Bloor.

[Larry Bevand]

With the shut down in Ontario we had to move our plans around a bit.

We now have signed a lease at 925 Danforth Avenue near the Donlands Subway Station in Toronto. We anticipate opening no later than August 1st, 2021 so we will continue operating out of 701 Mount Pleasant Road until that time.

We are still looking for a contractor to make renos at our new digs. Anyone with ideas, please e-mail me: bevand at chess-math dot org

www.strategygames.ca

Thanks,

Larry

[Erik Malmsten]

Good luck with the move. You're very close to Donlands subway and not far from O'Connor exit of DVP. Just west of you is the famous Square Boy burgers, and on the north side is the Only bar/coffee where Dobrich had speed chess. To the east is the mosque. To the south a small park which hosts fireworks.