After more than 50 years, European Quality Meats is closing its Kensington Market location

Kensington Market is losing one of its most recognizable landmarks: the longstanding European Quality Meats & Sausages. The butcher shop is closing this spring, founder Morris Leider tells us.

“The area has changed quite a bit,” Leider says. “The clientele has changed.”

All of the company’s other properties will remain open, he added.

Leidier, a 79-year-old Polish Holocaust survivor, originally purchased the store for $6,000 in 1959. Not too bad considering it was rumored to have been put on the market for $1.8 million, according to the Toronto Star.

Leider’s son, Larry Leider, told The Star that rising downtown property values and a shift in demographic prompted the sale.

Larry went on to tell The Star that the closure of that facility would “take its toll on the market” and said that there would not be another meat shop opening in its place.

European Quality Meats & Sausages will close its Kensington Market store on April 7.

Article exclusive to STREETS OF TORONTO