Some goodies and local news
Sun, 21 Aug 2011This is the last day of a 4 day weekend for me - essentially the only span of time off from my day job I am taking this summer. (I thought I should save my vacation days for the house renos which gawd knows when or if they will start anytime soon). Friday my husband Jeff and I stopped off at a couple of my favourite local home furnishing shops to get an idea of what we might want to purchase when the house is complete. One of those shops was Green Light District Design, which I have blogged about here and here. Jeff and I had dinner with the owners, Deborah and David, a couple of weeks ago and found out some very sad news. They are packing up the shop and moving it to Toronto. I am happy that Deborah and David are taking their shop to greener pastures but I am really disappointed that the shop didn't work here in Ottawa. So before they left Jeff and I decided to pick out some things that we've had our eyes on for ages, and we are planning to pick them up in Toronto and check out the new shop when the order comes in. In the meantime I picked up some more of the gorgeous dishes (handmade in South Africa) that I have been slowly acquiring since my first visit to GLDD, and of course took some photos. But before I share those, here are some details of the new shop: The name will now be 'Green Light District'....The new address is 365 Roncesvalles Ave in a totally renovated shop in Toronto's west end, near High Park....The website address remains the same....The neighbourhood of Roncy has had a complete street renewal over past 2 years which is now complete....We are keeping most of our current suppliers, but adding exciting new pieces....The last day in Ottawa will be Sept 11; opening in TO late September.
Here are the dishes Icould not pass up purchasing before the store closes. I snagged a couple more soup bowls, side plates, pasta bowls, finally some dinner plates (love the unfinished edge!), and a really pretty accent bowl. I adore how they are SO handmade that each piece is really a different shape, and when stacked they sit unevenly. PRETTY!!!
Reader Comments (8)
that doily is from my childhood!
Those are HEAVENLY!!! I love things like that that are a little raw and rough around the edges. It gives you this sense of connection, you can't help but think of the actual person who made it, and that makes your connection to the piece, and thus its intrinsic value, so much stronger.
I am sad that I didn't even know this shop existed. I LOVE those dishes. And I'm going to be heading to the shop before they hit the road.
Sigh. This seems like the kind of place that would have thrived had they been in another part of town.
I'm sad they are going but happy for them as they are such fantastic people and they deserve all the success they can get. We've had nothing but wonderful experiences with this store and the owners.
Love the gently wobbly edges of that ware!
Happy news! I just moved from Roncesvalles Ave, about a block from where this shop is going, but am still over there all the time - will have to check it out. Roncy has undergone some big changes - many stores shut their doors (many elder shopowners retired) during the 4 long long years of construction, but now many new design and clothing shops are setting up. A younger generation is bringing new life to the street - yay Roncy!
Um... the owner just sent me a weird email denouncing my question about their choice of location. Random.
Honestly, the customer service was zero. We came in and browsed for 15 minutes - the owner gave us a disdainful up-and-down look then
continued chatting with her friend. The friend left, we tried to get her attention but she started chatting on her phone.
The cold shoulder approach should work wonders in TO.