Northern Light said:
I'm led to believe the new LCBO at the corner of Balmuto and Bloor will be very high-end as well. But I haven't seen the designs.
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LCBO is a funny brand in that some of their locations are designed as near-luxury establishments, while others have the architectural design of literal prisons.

I assume the prison architecture is a holdover from the days when Ontario was more puritanical about liquor.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
LCBO is a funny brand in that some of their locations are designed as near-luxury establishments, while others have the architectural design of literal prisons.

I assume the prison architecture is a holdover from the days when Ontario was more puritanical about liquor.
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Yeah, their store designs have moved steadily upmarket over time. The new look with the black shelving is definitely a step up from the previous "BEIGE EVERYWHERE" look, that's for sure. I noticed the other day that they've renovated the store in First Canadian Place to the new look and it's a massive improvement.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
LCBO is a funny brand in that some of their locations are designed as near-luxury establishments, while others have the architectural design of literal prisons.

I assume the prison architecture is a holdover from the days when Ontario was more puritanical about liquor.
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I'm only in my forties, but have the barest memory as a child of the LCBO where you placed your order at a counter, and the clerk fetched your booze for you. I remember being in such a store, at perhaps the age of 3 or 4.........
Shortly after, that was gone.

But the initial efforts at self-service were very non-descript.

There was a location, where the Summerhill store is now, in the very same building, albeit smaller, shared w/the Beer Store on the other end, and lots of un-used back-of-house space.......

Everything was hidden behind drop ceilings............

You had no idea you were in a grand old railway station except for the exterior, which had all the charm of a Detroit Bomb Shelter.

From the City Archives:

1626400316112.png


1626400373017.png


An LCBO interior posted by someone on Reddit from 1971, when they had clerks to fetch your behind-the-counter booze:

1626400529184.png


Taken from:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ontario/comments/cld56t
 
zang said:
Walked by the open door today, interior is still barely base-building, but the area is *huge*. Feels like it's close to the footage of Summerhill.
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Almost exactly 1/2 the size of summerhill, but currently, at least, far less partitioned.

Summerhill had to work its way around the heritage ticket booths, the stairs to the platforms and a host of other features that are hidden from public view.

That would not be the case in the new Manulife store.
 
Undead said:
What was the intention behind self serve? Prevent theft?
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I assume you mean 'full serve' LOL, as 'self serve' is what we have now..........

****

Mainly a hold over from the prohibition era I suspect.............( I wasn't born when they started this, or for most of its existence).

But also, it wasn't an uncommon way to do retail back-in-the-day.
I remember Consumers Distributing, which was a similar format, come in, peruse the catalog, write down your preferred item number(s) on a slip of paper, hand it to a clerk who goes and fetches it.

Aside from it being that way because it was.................there was (and is) a certain advantage in this format; space efficiency. The way in which you store goods when the public doesn't require access is different than when they do.
Also, no 'pretty displays'.

****

Worth noting, that's how grocery stores used to be too (they were much, much smaller).........No, I don't remember that personally, LOL..........
Here's a story on how the change towards how we do things now happened:

TVO Today | Current Affairs Journalism, Documentaries and Podcasts

www.tvo.org www.tvo.org

The LCBO just took another 55 years to catch up.
 
The interesting thing is that LCBO is very similar to other state alcohol monopolies like Systembolaget (Sweden),. Vinmonopolet (Norway) and Alko (Finland) in Scandinavia - all of which moved away from counter to supermarket style in the late 80s-early 00s. The theory is that counter style discourages overpurchase of booze - less about efficiency, more about temperance.

Anyhoo, back to the One!

AoD
 
TheTigerMaster said:
I believe we will see the core of Yorkville shift east towards Bloor-Yonge over the next 10 to 15 years.

5. If Yorkville does extend east to Bloor-Yonge, it would only be natural for its expansion to continue north/south along Yonge Street as well. If this happens The One and the Apple Store would effectively become the centre of Yorkville at the junction of Bloor and Yonge.
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Would it be too much of a dream if it all connected all the way to Yonge and Queen, making those big pedestrian shopping streets like in Europe?
 
j_yyz said:
Would it be too much of a dream if it all connected all the way to Yonge and Queen, making those big pedestrian shopping streets like in Europe?
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A redesign of this section of Yonge will begin in a few years; and construction will then follow.
The section from Queen to Carlton is set for its do-over in the 2023-2025 timeframe.
The City is currently looking at going North of Carleton to in/around Davenport in the late 2020s

South of Bloor, the design will likely bare a resemblance to the section further south.
Wide sidewalks, trees, decorative paving (likely Yorkville Granite north of Charles).

Pedestrian-only.........probably not.
Pedestrian priority, definitely.
Still under discussion is whether bike lanes will be in the design. But you can be pretty sure that it won't be 4 car lanes in the future.
 
If you look closely in some older small town LCBOs you can still see signs of the old counter order service. I know the Port Dover LCBO has two different floor types that change where the counter used to be, plus the old warehouse area is windowless but the front entry area which was the ordering space is full of windows and has a lower ceiling height.

some small town LCBOs can be downright depressing. Good to hear FCP was renovated, that was the worst one I could think of in Toronto.
 
innsertnamehere said:
If you look closely in some older small town LCBOs you can still see signs of the old counter order service. I know the Port Dover LCBO has two different floor types that change where the counter used to be, plus the old warehouse area is windowless but the front entry area which was the ordering space is full of windows and has a lower ceiling height.

some small town LCBOs can be downright depressing. Good to hear FCP was renovated, that was the worst one I could think of in Toronto.
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Perhaps you've not visited the incredible 1970s time capsule that is St. Clair and Alberta?

1626441552254.png
 
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