Businesses who like bikes on the Danforth.
(from roughly Broadview to Donlands)
(Please add more stores that you know of.)
View these on a map.
Bad Dog Theatre Company - 138 Danforth Avenue
The Big Carrot - 348 Danforth Avenue
CycleMania - 281 Danforth Avenue
Grassroots Environmental Products - 372 Danforth Avenue
Ten Thousand Villages - 362 Danforth Avenue
About this topic
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Posted 3 years ago #
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Posted 3 years ago #
Ten Thousand Villages - half the staff and volunteers bike to work, also dog friendly!
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Posted 3 years ago #
Thanks! I've seen Ten Thousand Villages, but haven't been in yet. :)
I have added it to the list above. :)
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Posted 3 years ago #
Just added a couple bikestores to the Danforth listings at the top of this thread. :)
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Posted 3 years ago #
Are you sure The Big Carrot is bike friendly? The treasurer on the board of directors of the BIA that came out with the anti-bikelane webpage is from The Big Carrot: http://www.thedanforth.ca/content/view/72/82/
A friend who lives in the area complains that the emphasis there is on organic over local with the result being that you'll find organic products from China but won't find produce from local farmers, emphasis being on personal health over environment/local community.
I don't know the place well enough to comment - I've only ever popped in now and then for something specific and didn't have time to browse. The two pieces of information - being on the board of directors of the BIA and emphasis on imported organics over local products - does make me wonder if they are the natural supporters of bike lanes that one might assume. Maybe for the owners, it's just a business and not a reflection of their personal values?
Annie
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Posted 3 years ago #
Thanks for this Annie... you raise good points.
I guess there's also a difference in being "pro-bike" and being for bikelanes.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Carrot likes car parking, as I'm sure it brings in some business from a wide area, where as most Danforth businesses probably have most of their business coming from nearby residents.
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Posted 3 years ago #
I've sent the Big Carrot an email to see what their stance is... but they do have a section on their site about buying local:
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Posted 3 years ago #
Thanks! I've passed the link on to my friend - maybe this is a relatively more recent development.
Annie
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Posted 3 years ago #
I would tend to agree that The Big Carrot is not a fan of bike lanes going in on the Danforth. Their parking lot is always pretty full. Now this time of year their bike rack is also full (and numerous cyclists can be seen in the store at any time, and I would remind any BIA member not to underestimate how many folks go through Chester Station right around the corner.
I would note that while Grassroots got back to me immediately with a positive response when I emailed them, The Big Carrot remains silent. Hopefully I'm wrong but I suspect they see their target market as being more the Whole Foods wealthy car-driver than the person who chooses to bike to a co-op.
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Posted 3 years ago #
Thanks for the feedback on the Carrot, Annie and Todd.
I guess that because the Carrot is so unique, it pulls *some* customers from non-pedestrian, cycling, or subway users... but I'd wager it is not a large % that drives.
My wife and I bought a house on the Danforth so that we would be a short-ish (15 min) bike ride from the Carrot and that whole stretch between Pape and Chester... and I suspect that holds true for most of that area of the city... they live there because they like the local businesses and that they don't *want* to drive everywhere.
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Posted 3 years ago #
I'm with you, Joe, but I'd also wager that their impression is that big spenders are coming by car because not everyone can get six bags worth of groceries home without a car. My feeling about this, though, is that sure, *some* folks are coming by once every week or so and buying a huge quantity of groceries. Meanwhile, others who live or work near the store may come by every couple of days for a few things and end up spending the same amount but just not be as noticeable because they're not wheeling a giant cartload of groceries around the store.
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Posted 3 years ago #
That's probably what is happening... a few drivers but a lot infrequently, and they get the attention... but those of us who buy a few things more frequently (and probably spend more) are neglected.
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Posted 3 years ago #
There could be one other aspect: If everything remains the same, you and I are still going to go there every few days and spend what we spend. However, the folks coming by car may find that parking is better at Whole Foods (hypothetically, I really have no idea). The result is that the status quo keeps all of their customers while change gets rid of a few. My guess then, is that if we are to gain any ground with the BIA we have to demonstrate that this won't happen and they could possibly see an increase in business. Telling them "It won't impact your business as much as you think" isn't going to work when they want to hear: "There will be no impact on your business at all."
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Posted 3 years ago #
I mentioned above that I had sent the Big Carrot an email, and they've replied... with 2 great points:
1) Their parking lot is not their parking lot... it's run by the Carrot Common for over 30 businesses... and they get complaints that they charge for it.
2) The Big Carrot is waiting to see what the city report says about bikelanes and if parking will be effected, and then they (as a co-op) will decide what to do then.
They are (rightly) taking a "wait and see" approach.
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Posted 3 years ago #
Thanks, Joe, for passing that on. Sensible approach.
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Posted 3 years ago #
I ride this stretch of the Danforth through Riverdale a lot. It already seems wide enough to put in bike lanes without removing any parking, especially if the middle buffer lane used for nothing was removed.
Just get the paintcan out!
Of course if you removed parking on one side you'd have an even wider bike lane, but that could be done in the future when cycling traffic warrants it. -
Posted 3 years ago #
Awesome. I upgraded the forum software slightly (I can't upgrade fully, because not all the features I've added - ie. user photos, text formatting, etc, will update correctly, yet) and I (as admin) can embed things like Google Maps.
You can see one in the first post of this topic, showing a few bike-friendly business locations on the Danforth.
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Posted 3 years ago #
[Jeff, I've moved your post over here, to the discussion on bikelanes on the Danforth. We're going to try and keep this topic purely about businesses cyclists may want to patronize to support bike-friendly establishments. - joe.]
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