Stackt market reopens following city’s environmental survey

After a two-month closure, Toronto’s shipping container market stackt reopened on Tuesday.

The market and all vendors within the gates were shut down over March and April as the City Of Toronto conducted an environmental site assessment (ESA) of the plot, which is eventually slated to be converted into a city park.

Business owners say they’re relieved to be able to reopen for the busy warmer months.

Jordan Kruger, owner of The Breakfast Pantry says this will be their first summer at stackt, having opened last October.

“We’re excited to experience the summer, I know that it gets super busy and lively here. The other store owners told us the summer is just amazing,” she told CityNews

The closure, while inconvenient, gave some businesses a chance to regroup and explore other avenues of development.

“It’s really given us an opportunity to a catch up on some things and really focus on building online sales and looking at other areas of opportunity and what we can do to continue to grow, regardless of what our situation is,” said Jess Tai from Makeway.

RELATED: Toronto to begin environmental survey for future park at stackt grounds

Stores on the outer edge of the market along Bathurst Street remained open during the process, but owners say it has still been challenging to run as normal, with city crews out front the entire time.

The entrances to all storefronts along Bathurst were obscured by construction barriers. David King, owner of Promise Supply says signage from several blocks north advised pedestrians to cross the street, diverting potential customers away.

“They made it really look like the entire site was under construction. A lot of people who live in the neighbourhood would not think that we were open unless we were talking to them online,” he said. “It felt like January or February 2021 from a foot traffic standpoint.”

Christina Pack, owner of Auntie’s Supply agreed, saying business was down by almost 50 per cent.

“The winter doesn’t help but just having all this [construction] in front has been very difficult,” she said, adding that the stackt vendor community has been a source of much support during a less than ideal situation.

“I think all of us collectively along Bathurst Street have worked together to just support each other, talk about each others’ businesses — which honestly is the value of being in the stackt ecosystem.”

Now that the market is open, founder Matt Rubinoff says the community as well as vendors have a lot to look forward to, including a regularly scheduled day where a portion of the site will be converted into a licensed dog park.

“[It’s called] ‘Brews and Chews’ where you can bring your dog and hang out at the brewery,” he said, adding that there are over 50 events booked for the summer already. “There’s going to be music events, art events, kids programming — lots going on.”

Rubinoff said several new small businesses are joining the stackt collective as well. Along with pop-up shops and rotating art exhibits, a new installation will be going in next month on 12,000 feet of previously unused space on the site.

Other events announced so far include a Lucha Libre night to mark Cinco De Mayo and an Asian night market in celebration of Asian Heritage Month.

The market is also hosting a four-part festival series “celebrating the intersection of art, music, local communities and retail business” called the Backyard Festival. Artisan and food markets are also set to return in the laneway bordering the north side of the lot.

Rubinoff said they are facing a small setback as the city handed him a notice Tuesday morning informing him of sanitation work that is continuing into June outside stackt’s main south entrance. However the site can still be accessed from the north side and he says programming and store openings will not be affected.

As for the city’s plans for the site, they city told CityNews in January that it could potentially be three to five years before construction on the planned park begins. In an update on Tuesday, there was no change to that timeline and an update on the ESA findings is still pending.

Stackt’s lease is in effect until at least 2023 and Rubinoff says they will continue to maximize use of the space until it’s time to give it up.

“The idea of this project is it’s modular, so we have the ability, because these are shipping containers, to pick it up and move it,” he said. “We’re in discussions with the city now, so there is a timeline which it needs to transition over to be a park. In the mean time, we’re really enjoying the space.”