Collectors eager to own a piece of Toronto history are trying their luck online, where some of Honest Ed’s iconic retail signs have been put up for sale – for a pretty penny.
Hundreds of people lined up for hours to buy the signs from the discount retailer earlier this week. Now, some are re-selling them online – for a large markup.
On classified online website Kijiji, the going price for a set of three signs is $600.
The signs, autographed by David Mirvish and featuring a stamp of authenticity, advertise chopped ham, Velcro closure shoes and hooded parkas at “bargain basement prices” that made Honest Ed’s an iconic Toronto institution. David Mirvish’s father, Ed Mirvish, opened the business in 1948.
On Craigslist, a poster for sunblock lotion is described as a “one of a kind hand-painted Honest Ed’s sign.”
“Own a piece of Toronto’s history. Frame it as artwork,” the seller writes.
On auctioning site eBay, a sign for $2.99 soap was bidding at more than $120 (USD) on Thursday evening.
Familiar to thousands of Torontonians and tourists who’ve flocked to Honest Ed’s for household items such as dishwashing liquid or toaster ovens, the signs feature blue and red paint with a yellow border.
Earlier this week, collectors lined up around the block for eight hours in an effort to snag some signs, which were limited to three per person.
The signs were sold off as the store’s owner prepares to close at the end of 2016. The property, at Bloor and Bathurst Streets, was sold to a Vancouver-based developer Westbank Properties last fall, but Mirvish has leased it until the developer decides what to do with the land and existing buildings.
