Iconic Toronto bookstore booted from home of 40 years

An independent business that has served generations of families in Toronto's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood is coming to terms with having to vacate the space it's called home for nearly four decades due to, in typical T.O. fashion, an allegedly forthcoming condo development.

Mabel's Fables is one of Toronto's most prominent and iconic bookstores, being the okdest shop in the city dedicated specifically to children's literature after opening all the way back in 1988.

Beyond selling an array of titles across genres and age groups, its staff has also run the space as a community hub with regular events and classes, kicking off creative initiatives to encourage child literacy over the years.

Whether local parents and teachers are seeking suggestions for what their children should read next, want to sign up for a book subscription program, need the perfect gift or are interested in arranging an author visit, Mabel's Fables' knowledgeable staff have long been the go-tos in Toronto for anything kidlit related.

But, as of later this summer, anyone heading to the 662 Mount Pleasant Road address that the retailer has held since it first opened its doors will find the space empty, as, following a tumultuous few years for the business, Mabel's is in the process of relocating.

"The building was bought about six years ago by speculators, and we kind of had an inkling at that time that [developers] were looking to buy up the whole block [for redevelopment]," Manager Lizzie Ferguson tells blogTO.

Though the subsequent COVID crisis staved off any immediate changes to the property, Mabel's was presented with a shocking 70 per cent rent increase from the new owners in 2020 — not only smack dab in the middle of lengthy and devastating forced closures for the pandemic, but also after the Eglinton Crosstown LRT construction had put a huge damper on business in the area.

While the community rallied in support of the establishment at the time, enabling it to avert the price hike that surely would have put it out of business, the inevitable fact that it would have to relocate at some point in the near future was still looming. 

And now, that time has come.

"It was just a question of waiting until the new owners had the whole block. Now they do, which they told us last August. And so, at that point, Mabel's founder Eleanor LeFave started looking at new locations," Ferguson says.

Thanks to LeFave's diligence and proactivity, the team was fortunate enough to secure a storefront in the same area at 540 Mount Pleasant Road, meaning that patrons won't have to go too far to find them in their new home. 

But the whole saga of the past handful of years has been taxing, and the move, very bittersweet after so long at the same staple location.

Renovating the new space, a former vacuum store, and keeping the business afloat throughout prompted a GoFundMe that has, at the time of writing, raised more than $100,000 for Mabel's Fables' next chapter — an attestation to its significance to many.

"We've had tearful customers coming in saying, 'I brought my kids here, and now I'm bringing my grandkids here,' but the new space is wonderful, and our big goal is to make it feel as much the same as possible... for people to come in and say, 'Oh, it's okay. It looks the same' with a sense of relief," Ferguson says.

Mabel's Fables will shutter its current long-time shop at end-of-day on August 23, and hopes to open in its new digs about a week later.

As management wrote on the fundraising page, the expenses associated with relocating proved to be "impossible for a small store like us to weather alone" in Toronto, which other businesses in the city sadly well know after similar situations.

"We are so very grateful for your continued support for Mabel's Fables — we would not be here without our wonderful customers and community."

For what it's worth, there are no active condo proposals for the 662 Mt. Pleasant Rd. site, which does not appear to be zoned for such a building. But, those at the bookshop say the property owner has informed them of "their intention to build a condominium in the next two years," which will require demolition of the heritage building.

Landlords offered to find the small biz a new location during construction, but management turned it down for fear that the uncertainty of where they may end up — and that place being far removed from their current locale — could further harm business.