One of the first storefronts to open in the new retail mews behind the Five Thieves came from a short walk away. Gee Beauty sold from 2 Roxborough Street West through October 10, then reopened on October 13 at The James, 8 Price Street #1–4. The other names arriving have ties to the area too. Tanya Taylor, a designer who grew up in Toronto, picked Summerhill for her first Canadian shop, and Clementine's announced a move from 1054 Yonge Street.
Shops at The James was pitched as a European-style retail mews built around a public square, and in time it may become that. For now, the businesses opening first are ones that already sell to people who live within walking distance, and they are arriving one at a time. The construction around them follows its own schedule, which runs until spring 2028.
Two doors open, one moved up the street
Shops at The James sits at the base of The James, Tricon Residential's 23-storey rental tower at Scrivener Square, near Yonge and Price, with a connection to Summerhill station. Retail Insider describes about 10,500 square feet of retail space, a pedestrian retail mews and a public square.
Gee Beauty runs two operations there, Gee Beauty and 6 By Gee Beauty, and both appear on the official retail roster. The company's store listing set the move from Roxborough to the new space over a single weekend in mid-October.
Tanya Taylor's shop is 750 square feet at 8 Price Street, Unit 5. It is the New York womenswear brand's third standalone store, after Manhattan's Upper East Side and Greenwich, Connecticut. Streets of Toronto reported an October 1 opening. Speaking to Retail Insider, Taylor tied the choice of location to the customers already on the street: "We're always drawn to neighbourhood destinations where there's a strong sense of local character and discovery."
Where each tenant stands this week
The roster on thejames.ca lists the businesses coming to the mews. It does not say which shops are open. Here is where each name stood as of late October 2026.
| Business | What it is | Status | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gee Beauty / 6 By Gee Beauty | Makeup studio, relocated from 2 Roxborough St. W. | Opened October 13 | Company listing |
| Tanya Taylor | Womenswear, first Canadian store | Open | October 16, 2026 |
| Dear Grain | Sourdough bakery | Expected late October or early November | September 22, 2026 |
| Chocolat de Kat | Chocolate flagship | "This fall," no date given | Company FAQ |
| Clementine's | Concept boutique, relocating from 1054 Yonge | Targeted around October 2026 | February 20, 2026 |
| Mamakas | Second location of the Ossington Greek restaurant, 10 Price St. | Expected 2027 | September 17, 2026 |
| Nutbar, Nadège, Trove | Listed on the roster | Listed, no date shown | Undated roster |
Dear Grain is the opening most likely to change a weekday routine. Max Daviau, co-founder of Big League Food Company, told What Now Toronto to expect the Summerhill bakery in late October or early November. It will be the brand's third Toronto shop, after Ossington Avenue and Roncesvalles Avenue. The doughs ferment for 12 to 36 hours, and the menu runs from loaves and croissants to sandwiches and pizza slices.
Chocolat de Kat's FAQ says its flagship at The James opens "this fall" and sends customers to its Campbell Avenue factory in the meantime. Mamakas was once expected in 2026. Toronto Life now lists it as expected in 2027 at 10 Price Street. Bluboho, the jewelry retailer named as a confirmed tenant in August 2025, is absent from the current roster and from the store directory on Bluboho's own site.
Smaller rooms, closer to their customers
The clearest example of a business moving in from down the street is Clementine's. Christina McDowell and her daughter Kelly founded the boutique in December 2014. Its current shop at 1054 Yonge Street was Roots' first store in 1973. The new space at The James is about 735 square feet, roughly half of the 1,526 square feet on Yonge, and the stock will be more tightly edited with a stronger focus on fashion. According to Retail Insider, the McDowells will keep the Yonge Street premises for a separate concept that has not been named yet.
Kelly McDowell explained the choice to the same outlet in terms of the block itself:
"I've lived in the neighbourhood all my life. We know the hub that it is. That block already has great retail traffic, and we realized there was something special there."
The bigger openings on this part of Yonge follow the same logic. Kaelen Haworth opened the first Absolutely Fabrics on Queen Street West in 2023. In September she opened a 7,000-square-foot flagship at 1091 Yonge Street, more than three times the size of the first store, with menswear added for the first time. Retail Insider reported that she arrived with an existing customer base, including shoppers who had been travelling to Queen West from Rosedale, Forest Hill and nearby neighborhoods. Toronto Life gave Mamakas owner Thanos Tripi the same reason for coming north from Ossington: many of the restaurant's long-time customers already live in Summerhill.
This explains the order of openings. Businesses that already know their buyers can move in once their unit is ready. Destination tenants such as a full-service restaurant run on longer build-outs, and the mews will keep filling in around them.
The block it was built to extend
The mews was designed as an extension of the Shops of Summerhill, the row better known as the Five Thieves, whose anchors are Harvest Wagon, Olliffe Butcher Shop, Pisces Gourmet and Terroni. All four appear on The James roster alongside the newcomers.
In August 2025, Retail Insider laid out the design intent:
- Danish architects COBE designed a podium of hand-laid brick to echo the texture and scale of the original Shops of Summerhill.
- Claude Cormier and Associates designed the landscape, with a grapefruit-shaped water fountain at its center.
- The plans showed an open-air courtyard with café seating, patio zones and flexible space for seasonal markets.
- The square sits next to the former North Toronto railway station, which became an LCBO in 2003 and kept its 140-foot clock tower.
The article described the new development as meant to "complement and not replace" the charm of the older shops. The same article said retail units were due for delivery in early 2026, with a grand opening planned for fall 2026. No grand opening event or holiday market at the square has been announced for this November or December.
The sidewalk runs on a 2028 clock
The work around the shops is the part that will take longest. Summerhill station is getting a second exit and entrance, which will link the south end of the platforms through an underpass and corridor into the building at 10 Price Street. City Council authorized closing the north and south sidewalks on that stretch of Scrivener Square from February 1, 2026, through April 30, 2028. The TTC's March 2026 status report forecast the new entrance opening in the first quarter of 2028.
Under the City staff report, the temporary pedestrian walkway in place during construction must be:
- Covered and protected
- Kept unobstructed and accessible
- Fitted with enhanced lighting
- Equipped with cane detection
Anyone walking to Dear Grain on a Saturday morning this winter will reach it along that walkway. The station entrance under the mews is about a year and a half away, and so is the end of the sidewalk closures that frame it. Until the closure period ends on April 30, 2028, the covered temporary walkway is the way in from Scrivener Square.
If you own property near Scrivener Square and want to understand how the new tenants and the 2028 station entrance could affect its value, Taylor Townley follows this block closely and can take you through it in a private conversation. Request a Confidential Consultation.
