Riverside Eats & Shops Blog Series| Shop Riverside

shopShop while you stroll down Queen Street East

during the Sounds of Leslieville & Riverside Jazz Festival on July 8th to 10th in Jimmie Simpson Park

Riverside is known for its small-town-in-the-big-city atmosphere. It has attracted a mix of unique independent shops owned by folks who are passionate about what they do. During theBeaches International Jazz Festival’s inaugural The Sounds of Leslieville & Riverside, (and everyday!) we’re inviting you to come out and meet the businesses owners, artisans and unique personalities.

Arts Market

790 Queen Street East

Riverside-Shop

A one-of-a-kind shopping experience and rated as one of the top ten markets in Toronto, the Arts Market is definitely a shop to be reckoned with. Opening its doors to the trendy neighbourhood of Riverside earlier this year, the Arts Market has become an integral part of the area. With a growing artistic community, the Arts Market has been able to connect that community with all Torontonians. As Toronto’s original Arts Market, it is a place for artistic entrepreneurs to sell their work and get noticed!

Common Sort

800 Queen Street East

Riverside-Shop

With consignment and thrift shops being all the rage in today’s day and age, Riverside has a shop that is unlike any other. Offering the best of in-season second-hand items, all-year round, the Common Sort will be your go to place for fashionable items in excellent condition, but at a fraction of the cost.

Empire by Bullet

724 Queen Street East

Riverside-Shop

Originally established in 1996 in the Queen West West area, Empire by Bullet, known then as just Bullet, was a contemporary home décor store. Ten years after the company had established themselves in the West side of Toronto, they decided to pick up and try out the other side of Toronto.

  “In 2008, I was longing for a change and new direction.”

With their location in Riverside, the renamed company, now Empire by Bullet, expanded on their amazing collection of British items. One thing that has remained constant, even with the expansion, is the standard of providing the same design sense on well made and useable products.

“Like any great Empire, we travel to bring you quality products made from all over the world, and including Canada.” 

Keep Me Posted

724 Queen Street East

Riverside-Shop

Travel to the back of Empire to find the perfect gift and card for your event’s needs from Keep Me Posted! With cheeky, fun, one-of-a-kind greeting cards that fit with any gift receiver’s style, Keep Me Posted offers an arrangement of greeting cards, home décor, kitchenware, and natural products that will have you browsing for hours!

Irish Design House

756 Queen Street East

Riverside-Shop

Irish Design House is a unique gem in the Riverside neighbourhood. A Toronto based store that showcases handmade Irish crafts and fashion from various areas of Ireland, it’s one-of-a-kind. Since opening in September of 2014, they have displayed products ranging from Irish crafts, textiles, clothing, pottery and jewellery, that have been carefully selected to sit in harmony with each other. They are all finished and produced to an extremely high standard.

Run by partners Sinéad Clarke, a knitwear designer, and Benny Corrigan, a graphic designer, their passion for design and quality handmade products drove them to bring Irish design to Toronto.

“There is a sense of calm within the store with soft lighting and the sound of the vintage records playing in the background.”

The store itself has an eclectic vintage style that marries beautifully with some of the more traditional textiles and also sits in fitting contrast to the more contemporary products within the space.

Tiny Record Shop and Token

804 Queen Street East

Riverside-Shop

If you were looking for your typical grungy, dusty, hidden basement record shop, then you’ve stumbled on the wrong place. Specializing in rare and vintage high-end records and merchandise, Tiny Record Shop (TRS) is anything but your average record shop. With a large arrangement of vinyl records spanning over decades and genres, Tiny Record Shop is a huge treasure to the Riverside area.

“This isn’t a dollar bin store,” says owner Trevor Larocque, who opened Tiny Record Shop in 2014 with his wife Maude Fallon-Davesne. The Riverside neighbourhood store supplies to a niche market within a niche market, he explains, where prices range from $5 to $400. “If you don’t understand what I’m doing, you’ll hate it.”

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Located at 804 Queen Street East, TRS can be found in the back half of the building, with their other store Token in the front half, where you’ll find many unique trinkets and gifts ranging from bags to home items to personal accessories.

BRIKA

768 Queen Street East
Riverside-Shop

Now opened for business in Riverside, as of last Friday, is BRIKA and it’s a colourful addition to the neigbourhood! BRIKA connects highly talented artisans with creative and conscientious consumers through the best in modern craft.

Brika is the city’s own version of Etsy, offering a curated selection of modern gifts, artisan crafts, home decor goods and accessories, along with information about the people who make them.

Their products are of heirloom quality, making them a joy to give (and receive!). In addition to beautiful, well-crafted goods, you’ll find inspiration within their creative community. Help welcome them to the neighbourhood!


The Riverside Eats & Shops is your handy everyday guide to some of Riverside’s best, including:

Big thanks to Beaches International Jazz Festival for bringing the awesome Sounds of Leslieville & Riverside to Riverside!