No more No Frills

I came face to face with a scrapper, who appeared to be masquerading as a construction worker on my first scouting mission. While they seemed chill, especially after expressing to them I was just there to take photos, it was a slightly stressful encounter. He gave me a fist bump but not before adamantly telling me not to steal "their" shit.

The POE I located was through a broken window, so there's an obvious risk of broken glass. Some sort of fur coat had been placed down, I'm assuming by the scrappers, in an attempt to minimize the risk, but I still managed to slightly cut myself on the way out.

The Riverdale Shopping Centre, built in 1965, has long stood as one of the primary shopping centres in the Leslieville-Riverdale area. Originally home to the Towers Department store, the space was later taken over by Knob Hill Farms, a local grocery chain. That was until 2000 when Knob Hill Farms went under. Loblaws acquired the space and opened a No Frills franchise. The status quo would be maintained until, in 2024, with Ontario Line construction imminent, the No Frills would shutter its doors.

While most would assume this plaza held nothing more than a No Frills, it appeared to have been more of a warehouse. Multiple large spaces, still full of goods, remained out of the public eye. It almost feels like a labyrinth, with branching pathways, repeating corridors and no natural light. Scrappers appear to have already taken the most valuable of the goods, but boxes upon boxes of merchandise remain, likely left to be discarded.