Arts Market Toronto
The Arts Market specializes in renting space to artistic entrepreneurs. We believe strongly in no red tape, no commission, no long term contracts and the freedom to brand your hand-made local business how you see it!
Our Story
Daniel Cohen started the Arts Market in July 2011. The concept is simple: Give artistic entrepreneurs a permanent place to sell their wares at the most affordable rent possible. We have two downtown, Toronto locations, thousands of products, and over 150 local, handmade vendors.
Our Stores
On Saturday, July 9th 2011 the very first Arts Market opened in Toronto at 1114 Queen Street east! It was the first of its kind in the city (though the model was slightly different back then; we were only open on the weekend and artisans had to watch over their spaces: how things have changed!). Our opening afternoon was fantastic and set the sunny, upbeat tone for things to come in our Leslieville location for the next few years!
846 College St. College Promenade – Saturday, June 22nd 2013 – Another summer time grand opening (though the weather didn’t know this!); it was a drizzly morning when we opened our doors at 846 College Street for the very first time. We had asked friends and family members to wait outside huddled against the building to help create buzz in the neighbourhood; it worked wonderfully and we had a very busy day! The College Street location evolved more than most over the years and saw the opening of the very first Vintage B. in 2015: a floor dedicated to vintage vendors and dealers from in-and-around Toronto.
790 Queen St. East, Riverside – Wednesday, February 10th, 2016 – Wednesday might seem like an odd day for a grand opening but we wanted to make sure the community had ample time to shop for Valentine’s day that weekend! Our first customer was our landlord who found a new treasure for the brand new pub he had just opened! Though Riverside is the smallest Arts Market location it sees steady and consistent traffic due to the thriving surrounding community of fantastic bars, restaurants and boutiques!
2978 Dundas Street West, The Junction – Saturday, June 22nd 2019 – This location has two floors with Vintage B. monopolizing the lower level and the main floor being jam-packed with handmade wares and vintage finds. We opened this location in conjunction with a big neighbourhood street festival – The Summer Solstice Festival. We welcomed 1400 people through our doors that day alone. It’s been a bustling space ever since!
Spring 2020 – Covid hit. A large portion of small local businesses were affected. Regrettably this forced us to close both the Leslieville location and the College Street location. With unflappable support from our strong artists community, we used the time and resources to focus all of our efforts on the Riverside and Junction locations and to assisting the 150 artists we house there.
We appreciate your support and patronage – we will see you at the markets soon (either as a vendor or as a shopper!).
It all started with a simple idea.
2011
Conceptualized Arts Market concept, opened first location in Leslieville
2012
Began chairity work
2013
Opened College St. location
2013
Launched Travelling Arts Market
2014
Continued to work with local BIA's and neighbourhood groups
2015
Won Now Magazine Best Unique Gift Store for a second time!
2016-2017
Opened our Riverside location. Won Now Magazine's Best Unique Gift Store Award.
2019
Fourth location opened at the Junction in Toronto.
2020
Voted Best Unique Gift Store 2020. Closed 2 out of 4 stores due to Covid-19.
