DAVIDS 66 Bloor West, 416-920-1000, davidsfootwear.com
When Davids founders Lou and Julia Markowitz scouted a new location for their shoe shop at the corner of Bay and Bloor in the early 70s, a mini Fifth Avenue was in the making. After operating for two decades at College and Brunswick and then on Eglinton, they saw Yorkville morphing into a high-end shopping mecca where their fancy footwear would perfectly suit the well-heeled crowd.
This October, the Markowitz family marks 60 years in business and 40 at that in-the-money intersection. Their roster of swanky labels keeps growing. Fall’s collection lineup includes Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, Stuart Weitzman, Valentino, Kate Spade and Chie Mihara.
If that all sounds a little too rich for your blood, the Markowitzes also opened the similarly stylish but substantially less pricey Capezio next door in 1978.
Davids picks: Florence-based Harris makes classic men’s lace-ups like the Crem style with its brogue-detailed toe cap, $595 Christian Louboutin’s Fifi pump is the ultimate fantasy heel in multicoloured sequins, $1,495 Davids creates its own collection of private-label handbags like the luxe Grat purse, $1,995.
Look for: A Davids web shop opening soon to satisfy all those late-night shoe cravings.
Hours: Monday to Wednesday and Saturday 9:30 am to 6:30 pm, Thursday and Friday 9:30 am to 8 pm, Sunday noon to 6 pm.
