Back to Toronto. Lothian Mews.
We were getting great support from the architectural and design community, many of whom became regular customers who also selected our fabrics and other items to furnish their projects. We were however not in a very visible location and our space was very limited. We were approached by a very energetic and persuasive lady real estate agent who was the leasing agent for a small, new infill development off Bloor street, the Lothian Mews. It was not on Bloor street, but it almost was. It was very tempting. The rents were more than we had ever contemplated, however we could take a relatively small space and we would be exposed to the Bloor street clientele. We leased a narrow space on the ground floor and a double width on the second floor. We built a stair and lined the walls with pine boards, with integral shelf support system, built some display islands with pine columns and glass shelves.
By now we had quite a large selection of textiles and products and were being discovered by a larger and more diverse audience. We were getting excellent coverage in the media and I even made it to the cover of Canadian Interiors, June 1964.
One of our frequent visitors and customers was George Minden, who was very interested in Scandinavian and contemporary design. I learned that his father had bought the Windsor Arms Hotel a few years ago and that George was becoming the manager of the hotel. He introduced me to his father's legal firm Minden & Gross for whom I designed a number of executive desks for the partners. At this time Design Research, a retailer of contemporary products and marimekko, similar to Karelia, was opening their Manhattan store on East 57th Street, and Armi Ratia was coming from Finland. I was planning to attend. George was also interested and decided to come along. At the opening reception and party, George got immersed in good architecture and design, a bit of Finnish culture, marimekko and Armi. Upon our return to Toronto, I learned that George Minden was planning to convert the existing dining room in the basement of the hotel into the best restaurant serving the best food and wines. George had done a lot of research and was very knowledgable about the best chefs internationally, their food concepts and the best vineyards and bottlers. Our discussions about basic values, quality and design integrity led to him hiring me to design the restaurant and everything within it, including the waiter's uniforms. But that is another story that I will cover elsewhere.
Second floor.
Second floor.
Ground floor.
Ground floor.
All photos: Jack Marshall & Co. Ltd.
