Simon Bower moved onto Summerhill Avenue in 1999. In Toronto Life's fall look at the neighbourhood, he says that for the next 27 years he watched local restaurants empty out by 9 p.m. He opened Seahorse at 1226 Yonge Street to stop making the trip to Ossington for dinner. Now, he told the magazine, "Patrons are staying late into the evening just to be part of the Summerhill vibe."
Late dinners are only part of the change. Summerhill's commercial centre has been moving. For decades the strip's anchors were the LCBO in the old North Toronto station and the short run of shops at Yonge and Price. This November the busiest new addresses are on Price Street itself, in a retail mews that reaches back from the Five Thieves corner. On Saturday, November 14, the neighbourhood's holiday season begins in the same square.
The block that used to stop at the LCBO
Toronto Life puts the old Summerhill plainly. The area was best known for "its enormous LCBO" and a few expensive shops "affectionately known as the Five Thieves," and few people outside the neighbourhood had a reason to visit. Those shops are still the base of the block. Retail Insider lists Harvest Wagon, Olliffe Butcher Shop, Pisces Gourmet and Terroni among the long-standing businesses in the Five Thieves district.
The new piece is The James. It is a 23-storey rental building by Tricon Residential at Scrivener Square, near Yonge and Price, with about 10,500 square feet of retail space, a pedestrian retail mews, a public square and access to Summerhill subway station. Retail Insider describes the project as an extension of the Five Thieves district. Walk out of Olliffe or Harvest Wagon now and the next shopfronts are along Price Street.
What is behind the glass on Price Street
The James's shops are opening in stages. Here is how each tenant stood in the most recent reporting before publication:
| Business | What it is | Where things stand |
|---|---|---|
| Tanya Taylor | Womenswear, the label's first Canadian store | Open at 8 Price Street, Unit 5 |
| Gee Beauty | Beauty studio and shop | Open at 8 Price Street, #1–4 |
| Chocolat de Kat | Chocolatier's "little flagship," with hot chocolate and gelato | Hot chocolate due November 7 |
| Dear Grain, Nutbar, Bluboho | Bakery, café, jewellery | Announced for The James |
| Clementine's | Toronto fashion boutique | Announced move to The James |
| Mamakas | Greek bistro from Ossington | Expected at 10 Price Street in 2027 |
Tanya Taylor's store is 750 square feet. It is the brand's third standalone location, after Manhattan's Upper East Side and Greenwich, Connecticut. According to Toronto Life's report on the shop, Chocolat de Kat's arrival goes back to the chocolatier's original St. Clair West shop. Tricon's vice-president of retail lived nearby, found the store there, and first contacted founder Kata Ambrus over Instagram three years ago. She told the magazine she wanted a location "not too far east, not too far west. Something central and accessible to our customers."
Nutbar is a name Summerhill already knows. The company lists an existing Summerhill shop at 1240 Yonge Street.
Why these shops picked a neighbourhood strip
The newcomers give similar reasons for coming. They went looking for a block where regular customers live nearby and come back.
Tanya Taylor told Toronto Life, "I would never open a shop in a tourist area," and explained that she learns about her customers "by watching their routines, seeing them walk their dogs and visit their local coffee shops." She also told the magazine that when she stops at Harvest Wagon for a juice, she runs into five people she knows. That puts the old Five Thieves block and the new mews in the same daily routine.
Dinah Luxton's outerwear label opened its first permanent store at 1202 Yonge Street in 2026. In Toronto Life she says, "People are always seeing neighbours and having conversations here." The founders of Body of Work, a Toronto athleisure brand that sold only online for six years, opened their first store at 219 Avenue Road in a space designed by Superkül. Co-founder Brittney MacKinnon told the magazine they now have a view of Ramsden Park from the back window. Next door at 217 Avenue Road, Robert Yarish chose Summerhill for Wynona Studio, his bespoke menswear shop, because the area felt "more experiential and a bit European." He reports many local customers he "never would have crossed paths with otherwise."
Thanos Tripi of Mamakas gave Toronto Life a more practical reason: many of his long-time customers already live in the area. Every one of these owners chose a block close to the people who would shop there.
Up Yonge, the evenings run later
Price Street draws the daytime traffic. North on Yonge, a short stretch is giving the neighbourhood later evenings. Yonge Street numbers rise as you head north, so these stops follow the addresses in order:
- Absolutely Fabrics, 1091 Yonge. Designer Kaelen Haworth's boutique for hard-to-find New York and Paris labels. At 7,000 square feet, the Summerhill store is more than three times the size of her first shop on Queen West.
- Luxton, 1202 Yonge. The outerwear shop above, a likely stop in November.
- Seahorse, 1226 Yonge. Bower's raw-bar seafood restaurant, which opened in 2025. In May, Toronto Life put it at the top of its list of the city's best new restaurants of 2026. The team includes a former Quetzal chef and an 11-time oyster-shucking champion.
- Dua's Coffee, 1244A Yonge. A café that Streets of Toronto covered in July as a new Summerhill spot. The menu includes espresso drinks, matcha, house-made pastries, cookies and byrek.
- Café Crane, 1262 Yonge. A "French(ish)" restaurant from Jackie Lee and Jeffrey Bovis, the partners behind Leslieville's Bib Gourmand–awarded wine bar Wynona. Toronto Life listed it as expected in late 2026. Lee told the magazine she sees the same thing in Summerhill and Leslieville: "People are here for the long term."
Within these few blocks you can now shop, have coffee and stay out for a late dinner, and Bower's 9 p.m. curfew no longer applies.
Saturday, November 14, at Scrivener Square
The holiday season starts at the same corner where the retail has grown. Rosedale Main Street's annual Cavalcade of Lights runs on Saturday, November 14, 2026, from 2 to 6:30 p.m., with the tree lighting at Scrivener Square at 5:30 p.m. The BIA's event page lists these stops:
- LCBO, 10 Scrivener Square: an après-ski setup with a live band and a DJ dance party
- Yonge Street and Shaftesbury Avenue: the Cavalcade Express Train for children
- Around the event: carollers, Santa and Mrs. Claus, live music, and costumed characters including Elsa, Olaf, Paw Patrol and Bluey
For a practical plan, walk through the Price Street mews in the afternoon, eat up Yonge, and be back at the square by 5:30. If you're walking over from Moore Park, our Moore Park ravine walk guide covers the routes nearby.
Summerhill Market is holding its holiday programming a few minutes east, away from the main strip. Its Design Your Own Wreath Workshop runs November 20 to 22 and November 27 to 29 at the Event Boutique, 1057 Mount Pleasant Road. The booking page currently lists the sessions as sold out.
For a longer view of the area, see our Summerhill neighbourhood page and our guide to neighbouring Rosedale.
If you'd like to know how the changes around Scrivener Square affect a home you own or one you're considering nearby, the team at SW3.ca can talk it through with you, perhaps over a coffee on Yonge. Contact Us.
