One of the most central locations for a Toronto-based chain specializing in healthy foods has shut down and will soon be replaced by a Tim Hortons.
The third official location of the Toronto-based chain created by TMU (then Ryerson) alum, Peter Chiu, Basil Box at Queen and Spadina has been a trusty option for healthy bites amid the shopping district otherwise flooded with fast food like Chik-Fil-A, A&W and a particularly infamous McDonald’s location.
The chain, which originated with a now-closed location at Square One, has operated their Queen West location for the past 8 years, taking over the charming Heritage Building at the corner of Queen and Spadina from Hero Burger in 2016.
After a near-decade, though, the location has officially closed down for good — and the space they’ve left behind has already been snatched up by a much, much larger chain.
“After careful consideration, we decided not to renew our lease,” a representative from Basil Box confirms to blogTO.
“While we’ve always loved the location, the post-pandemic recovery at this particular location has been slower than expected,” they explain.
In what should be a joke, given the already dense population of Tim Hortons locations (to say nothing of other coffee shops) in downtown Toronto, a recent post on the r/Toronto Reddit group shows that signage has since gone up in the windows of the building announcing that it will soon be churning out Timbits, Ice Capps and bizarre, cardboard-like pizza.
“Tim Hortons is the new Spirit Halloween,” one Reddit user comments, poking fun at the seasonal retailer’s reputation for overtaking vacant businesses seemingly overnight.
There’s no word yet on when the new Tim Horton’s location at Queen and Spadina is set to open but, given its central location, it’s sure to be among the city’s busiest.
Hey, maybe it’ll even attract some of the chaos usually reserved for the McDonald’s location caddy-corner to them, so it can be more evenly spread among the entire intersection.
Basil Box currently operates locations in Toronto, Oakville, Ottawa and Edmonton.
