The east end is getting a little more retro: The Vintage Hall, a vendor market located in Toronto’s Riverside, is finally welcoming customers after their busy grand opening this month. With a wide range of vintage vendors selling goods from apparel to homeware, there’s a little something for everyone.
The 2,700-square-foot spot is located at 754 Queen St. E., with the back of the building accommodating the market and the front room solely dedicated to Second Voyage Vintage.
For owner and long-time vintage goods seller Kyle Burton, The Vintage Hall’s opening day on Oct. 3 signalled that the market was a much-needed fixture in the area.
“I think the biggest response we got from people was how amazed they were at the size of the space,” he says. “People are just truly excited to see it and to have the space in the community.”
Before opening day, Burton says the space needed a few months of renovation before it could become what he imagined.
“It was hard, at the time, to envision the space,” he says. “But we made it work. We did a few months of tearing down walls, setting up the store.”
According to Burton, being located in Riverside was ideal, and he says that the Riverside BIA is great at hosting events — with the market even making its debut in the BIA’s bi-annual vintage crawl.
“We had an opening party the same night as the vintage crawl,” says Burton. “So we had a ton of people come through.”
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Vendors come from “all over,” according to Burton, but most are coming from different parts of the city.
Burton himself is no stranger to the vintage goods sector. Over a decade ago, he began at the Arts Market when they were at Leslieville (another multi-vendor venture that helped emerging local designers, crafters and even vintage sellers get their creations on shelves), and then eventually opened his own store in 2015 at Sherbourne and Queen, and another shop in Riverside in 2022.
“I’ve been collecting my whole life,” he says. “Since I was a kid, I was collecting Beanie Babies and I was digging up old apothecary bottles in the dirt and cleaning them up. I always had an interest in old things.”
Among the vendors — such as Her Name is Red Vintage and Second Soul Vintage — plus-size vintage retailer Polyester Plus was looking to expand beyond their Hamilton store so more customers can reach them.
“We definitely have a lot of people travelling to come and visit us because we are one of the only vintage stores that offer plus size,” says Polyester Plus owner Emily Gove. “We just thought it would be really great to have a presence in Toronto as well.”
Vendors are able to set up shop and have The Vintage Hall staff the booths, says Gove. The brand specializes in selling plus-size vintage from the 1960s to early 2000s, but their biggest sell is ’90s items like T-shirts and dresses.
“We really go for things that are fun, that are colourful, unique and whimsical,” Gove says. “We want to offer something that’s really different from what you can go to the mall and get.”
The Vintage Hall is open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
