Article
We All Scream for Kawartha Dairy’s New Toronto Ice Cream Shop
April 22, 2024 2 Minute Read
I scream, you scream, and this summer Torontonians can all scream for the opening of Kawartha Dairy’s first ice cream shop in the big city.
The deal to bring i-cone-ic Bobcageyon, ON-based Kawartha Dairy to the heart of Greektown – at a former Starbucks location in a heritage building at 888 Danforth Ave. – was brokered by CBRE’s Jackson Turner.
Turner represented property owner Hunter Milborne and says he’d been working on leasing the 2,058 sq. ft. ground floor space for close to a year, with several false starts.
Once Kawartha Dairy entered the picture, however, a deal got done fast, with both parties motivated to get it across the finish line and open up in time for summer.
“It was refreshing how quickly and simply things came together,” says Turner. “Not unlike Kawartha Dairy ice cream on a hot day.”
The shop has the option of setting up a patio out front, according to Turner, helping to ensure it becomes part of the neighbourhood.
Kawartha Dairy has 10 other locations across Ontario, and its ice cream has been available at grocery stores and partner shops for years. But this is its first-ever retail location in Toronto.
Colliers’ Josh Harris, who represents Kawartha Dairy, said on LinkedIn that they are “actively seeking additional opportunities in the Greater Ottawa area and Southwestern Ontario markets.”
No Easy Deals
The Kawartha Dairy transaction moved forward quickly, which makes it an outlier in the retail market at the moment, according to Turner.
“There are no easy deals these days,” he says. “It’s a tougher environment for sure. Mind you, retail is doing better than a lot of other asset classes.”
Turner is “cautiously optimistic” about the year ahead in retail.
Amid the cost of living crisis, he notes that affordable options for day to day essentials and services have been driving a lot of larger format leasing activity lately, with discount banners expanding to ensure they’re well located with “dots on a map throughout the city.”
This summer the money people save at discount stores can buy a scoop or two of Kawartha Dairy ice cream on the Danforth.
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