Cesario Ginjo knew the rent would go up. The last lease he and his wife, Tina, secured for their tiny bakery and pie shop in a residential area of Toronto’s Little Italy was inked pre-pandemic, and they were under no assumptions their lease for the modest brick shop would be re-signed at $3,000 per month.
But the sticker shock was worse than expected. The building’s longtime owner had sold it in June for $1.85 million in Toronto’s still red-hot real estate market. Their new landlord asked for more than double the rent: $6,300 per month to keep the space and continue selling pastries beside Bickford Park.
Sweetie Pie, seen on their final day of operations. The owners have blamed closing their inaugural location on their rent more than doubling after the building sold.