The future is grim for former fashion district Queen Street—or at least that’s what the team behind popular Vancouver streetwear brand Reigning Champ thought when they decided not to renew its lease on the strip. The location suddenly closed up shop last week, and their reasoning points to a growing problem for what used to be a major retail hot spot in Toronto.
“It’s not necessarily a shopping district anymore, with a lot of the closures on the street,” an employee at their remaining downtown location on Ossington said of the explanation they received from their district manager regarding the closure.
The Reigning Champ employee pointed to H&M, Zara and Adidas as examples of retail shops that recently shut their doors on Queen West. H&M closed one of its original Toronto shops on the street in 2023, while Zara closed in late 2024, leaving just its Eaton Centre location downtown. Adidas also decided not to renew its lease in 2024, and Anthropologie recently closed its massive Queen Street store.
“The business decision was just to not renew the lease they had previously from 2017. The fact that Queen Street itself is going to become more under construction due to the subway to be installed there soon was also a factor,” the Reigning Champ representative said.
These comments from the streetwear brand reflect a growing discussion in the city around the future of Queen West. What used to be a cultural and shopping district that drew tourists and residents alike has transformed into a shell of its former self. Some commenters have blamed the very big box stores that are currently shuttering their doors for the change, noting that it’s difficult for independent shops to survive on the street thanks to massive chains taking over the spaces and more easily being able to swallow exorbitant commercial rent costs.
Reigning Champ, founded in Vancouver in 2007 and quickly rising in popularity through collaborations with major brands, still has a downtown location at 41 Ossington Ave. as well as a pop-up that has since turned permanent in Yorkdale Mall. Aritzia acquired Reigning Champ in 2021 as part of their foray into the menswear market, purchasing a 75 per cent stake in the brand.
Streets of Toronto has reached out to Reigning Champ for comment on whether there will be another location opening elsewhere.
