What: General Tao, west-end gift shop
Where: 853 Bloor Street West, Toronto
When: Thurs-Sat 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Sun 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Currently closed M-W due to construction.
Still a youngin’, General Tao makes a great addition to the Bickford Park area of Bloor West, an area that is area is slowly gentrifying (hello, McDonalds). I like to think of it more as an area that is slowly cleaning up. Across the street is Hogtown Vegan, so if you’re grabbing some grubby dinner, walk on over and spend some time in General Tao before/after. The store is huge and it’s filled with lots of different things, so you’ll be quite occupied!
There are some lovely paper goods in the store, but General Tao is more in the gift variety. I’ve found some nice papers there, but I’ve also found a box that looks like a book! I like that they have the typical gift store products — cheeky books and knick knacks — but there are also loads of things in there that I haven’t seen anywhere else. There’s even a section in the back with fancy door handles and a massive cardboard box play house (sadly, not pictured, my bad).
I have been in General Tao a couple times now, and I’ve enjoyed my visits. It’s a fun place to look around.
I recommend them for: gifts & that gem you never knew you wanted