A new thrift store has popped up in Kensington Market, and it’s bringing a fittingly creative and collaborative vibe to the vintage hot spot. Plethora is located in the space previously occupied by Vintage Outlaw—owner Danni Crisostomo was happy to hand off the keys to the Plethora crew when she moved to Montreal last month because she felt they shared similar values. The synergy is so apparent that Plethora continues to sell her collection in store.
The main difference is that unlike Crisostomo, who operated her business alone for the last eight years, Plethora is run by a whole group of people (approximately 15). All of them make music and hang out in the store, taking turns performing non-stop live DJ sets. They intend to keep the store open until midnight on weekends, so that customers can hangout and enjoy more atmospheric, late night thrifting sessions.
The name Plethora refers to the many different personalities who make up the shop. “It started because we all have really different tastes and styles, and come from different cultures and walks of life,” says co-owner Jean Lord.
The fact that they’re all doing this together, let alone in a physical brick and mortar shop is sort of an accident. Asked how they know each other, many overlapping voices chime in: Yvo met Lazzarus thrifting; Lord and Lazzarus bonded over R&B music. Slowly their group grew, but they agree that “found family” is an appropriate descriptor.
The clothing endeavour only started eight months prior to moving into the space in January. Lord had been living in a house with a lot of comings and goings (musical partnerships, a couch surfer turned roommate, a friend who moved in and started a clothing line). When the commotion finally settled in spring of 2024, they eventually realized that they had an unpaid hydro bill that had been amounting for three years, and would now cost them thousands.
They didn’t have the money, but they did have upwards of 500 pieces of reworked clothing inside the house. “We thought, maybe we can make a little dent in it at least,” says Lord. “But we didn’t have anywhere to sell, so we just set up outside our place.”
Their friend Gee brought a speaker to hype them up, and they made enough money the first day that they figured their idea could actually work—they’d keep at it until the hydro bill was paid.
Then the owner of the restaurant across the street, Petti Fine Foods, offered to let them set up outside of the restaurant, and they made even more money.
So they started popping up at different hot spots around the city, including Christie Pits and Trinity Bellwoods. They even did one in Montreal, courtesy of Gee’s dad’s SUV, which several of them squeezed into for a weekend. Each pop-up seemed to do better than the last.
Eventually they did their first Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington, which functions on a first come, first served basis for vending. New friend and musician Starseed saw what they were doing and came by to lend his talents: DJing and freestyle rapping while they sold clothes off the table. People began circulating with cameras, and recording on their phones.
“It was crazy,” says Lord. “I’ve never seen anything like that in Toronto.”
The next Pedestrian Sunday, they started camping out on the street at 3 a.m. in order to secure a better spot, and hung out all throughout the next day into the late evening. They started posting vlogs on Instagram to capture the vibe.
Things happened in rapid succession after that as the group began collaborating on events and hosting their own vintage markets. Finally in December, they popped up in Vintage Outlaw, and found out that Crisostomo was leaving the space.
Now they’re permanently settled, having brought their DJ street sessions in-house. Resident DJs include Macquin, Anika, Starseed and Enzo. Lord says it’s like an event every weekend; friends come by to hang out and DJ, they record video content, and they make music.
“Everyone has kind of learned to DJ a little bit, and have fun with it,” says freelance photographer and videographer Kian Gannon, who produces all of their in-house content. “There’s such a high level of collaboration; literally today we went and shot a music video in the snow, while everyone else was here holding down the store.”
Plethora stocks a mix of thrifted pieces and independent Toronto designers, including 52 hours, G0M1, Bullish and Surrounded by Angels, and is currently seeking new vendors. Clothes range from men’s, women’s and unisex, and cost anywhere between $5-$10 for thrifted tees, to $100 for more coveted vintage pieces, and upwards of $200 for handmade designs.
“We’re really big on community so if people want to use this space [for any reason], we want to help people out,” says Lord.
Plethora is located at 146 Augusta Ave., and is open from 12-7 p.m. Monday to Friday, and likely until midnight on weekends. You can follow them on Instagram to keep up with announcements about late night hours, new content and events.
