Laco Sac is one of the longest-surviving stores in the CF Toronto Eaton Centre, having withstood decades of change in the constantly evolving mall.
The luggage and travel gear store opened in the mall in 1991 and has been in business for 33 years as of 2024.
In its over three-decade journey, the family-run enterprise — headed by 76-year-old Varouj Kharabian — has persisted through an influx of multinational stores, leasing trouble and competition from within the market.
They business survived even when other stores around them in the mall were closing. Kharabian’s daughter Natasha, who joined the family business as operations manager in 2014, says that the mall, and as a result, the store have undergone many changes.
“With the influx of the American chains in the early 2000’s including but not limited to Hollister, Forever 21, Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie and Fitch, Nordstrom, Old Navy, Gap and William & Sonoma, a cataclysmic shift started to take place,” Natasha said.
“A temporary location was arranged. Laco Sac moved four times. Wherever the mall had trouble filling a spot, had yet to find a tenant, Laco Sac would fill in. Until finally a permanent spot was arranged. Laco Sac made it work with sheer will,” said Natasha.
During the blackout of 2003 that engulfed the northeast in darkness, the Eaton Centre was closed. Another landmark event was the G20 Summit protest in June 2010, which also saw the mall famously shuttered. Most recently, the mall withstood the historic global disruption of the pandemic which led to a slump in businesses worldwide.
“Those years of foreseeing the possibility of challenge made staying afloat during short-term closures possible. The slumps were difficult but having more than one location to lean on helped. The online store was also helpful, but it was a huge challenge overall to overcome.”
“Connections we had spent years forging with smaller manufacturers helped us get product when supply issues were causing major problems for competitors who primarily purchase product from overseas. We became the primary place to get luggage for many,” she said.
Varouj was 37 years old when he came to Canada from Lebanon in 1987. Almost 40 years later, he says that he got good advice in the beginning that served him well.
Natasha also attributes it to being a small business that the family could still oversee its operations. Just then, Varouj takes out his mobile phone and shows us security camera footage from their other store.