Corso Italia: Shops and Café Culture
Multi-cultural Studies Series: #2
There is a distinct social street culture in Toronto’s Corso Italia. Many of the lifestyle traits of Italy came along with immigrants to the area and have been manifested in the built form. The sidewalks are wide and often stores spill out onto the street displaying shoes, fruits and veggies, fabric and of course patios! “Corso Italia specializes in the retail sector (46%), especially high-end fashion stores that draw customers from all over the city, but its food-related businesses (27%) and services (27%) are more locally oriented” (Zhuang, 2013).
Neighbourhood Staples
Tre Mari
A neighbourhood classic, Tre Mari has been open since 1960 and is still family owned. In the beginning, Tre Mari extended a credit to their customers in the beginning as a way to help through hard times (Tre Mari, 2014). No other business in the area was doing this. Family values, customer services, and being there for the customers stay core to the business well into the 3rd generation of owners. This little bakery serves as an archive for the neighbourhoods history as well as a meeting place for friends and families.The business has recently renovated to keep up with the changing demographics of the area and and are still doing well to this day.
Tre Mari Bakery has been a staple since 1960 and is still owned by the same family (Jim and Mary Deleo 3rd and 4th generation a resource location/archive in its own right, possible that it has survived the test of time because it’s owners have been aware of when it makes sense to evolve add a new service or renovate for a younger hipper crowd as they recently have)
Centro Trattoria Formaggi
Another classic business that has been open since the 1970’s is Centro Trattoria Formaggi. The owner travels Italy every 5 years to visit family and do research on products to bring back and sell, everything sold at the store is from Italy. Similarly to Tre Mari, this family owned business is a focal point of the neighbourhood.
Sports Bars
There are many sports bars in the area which are frequented by older Italian men. These bars serve as a meeting spot, a place to people watch, and somewhere watch popular sports like football(soccer). In 1982 the FIFA World Cup celebrations brought out 200,000 soccer fans showing their Italian pride!
Gentrification
The future of this neighbourhood is looking a bit less Italian. However, the character of the neighbourhood is quite strong which was made clear when the Starbucks came and went very quickly. A local Toronto coffee chain, Wallace Espresso, has since arrived in the area. It sets itself apart from the As the downtown core continues to increase in living cost, the area seems a bit more attainable for younger citizens, read more about housing in the next article in this series.
Many of these new markets and food stores are Portuguese, Latin American, or Chinese run. When I lived just a few blocks from the area, my neighbourhood fruit market was operated by a woman who would seamlessly switch between, English, Spanish and Cantonese to serve customers. The diversity of businesses, food, and street-life make this vibrant destination in Toronto.
Sources:
- https://web.archive.org/web/20030604011936/http://www.torontocorsoitalia.com/page/page/348967.htm
- Tre Mari Bakery social network Ryerson Documentary (2014). Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://vimeo.com/108597141.
- http://www.centrotrattoria.com/history.htm
- Zhuang, Z. C. (2013). Rethinking multicultural planning: An empirical study of ethnic retailing. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 22(2), 90–116. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/docview/1675910697?accountid=13631
