Retail dreams, poutine, and the Spice Girls
Eating and drinking and working.
The rise of new condo projects (pardon the pun) in the core has sparked conversations about a resurgence in retail businesses downtown. People have started moving into 1 Victoria and City Centre - and these new residents will need more than just multiple places to get great poutine (see below).
There are rumours (that I seriously didn't start) of a grocery store moving in to the Queen St and King St area...and Perimeter Developments have begun the renovation of the long time vacant retail space at 276 King Street West. There's no word yet on what will go there - but I have a dream, and that dream is what I photoshopped above - Trader Joe's. That's just what I'd like to see - not what is actually going there....but a guy can dream.
What retailers would you want to see in the downtown core? Let us know at @gettlwr.
What to do.
Victoria Park is a great place to enjoy your lunch break in the spring. Why not make it a perfect picnic and pick up some poutine from one of our amazing downtown restaurants. The City of Kitchener put together this list of some of their recommended poutine places - including Kava Bean Commons, Ace Shawarma, The Firkin, and Big Fat Pita.
85 Queen: An Evening with David Bezmozgis
Kitchener Public Library | 85 Queen St, Kitchener | Mon, Apr 18 | 7:30
David Bezmozgis is an award-winning writer and filmmaker, and the author of three books:Natasha and Other Stories, The Free World, and The Betrayers. His work has earned two Scotiabank Giller Prize nominations, as well as nominations for the Governor General’s Award and the Trillium Prize. The Free World won the Amazon.ca First Novel Award. Seating is first come, first served. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Copies of books available for purchase.
Buddy Guy at Centre in the Square
101 Queen St N, Kitchener | Wed, Apr 20 | 8pm
Buddy Guy is a legend and he's playing in our backyard.
At age 79, Buddy Guy is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, a major influence on rock titans like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, a pioneer of Chicago’s fabled West Side sound, and a living link to the city’s halcyon days of electric blues. Buddy Guy has received 7 GRAMMY Awards, a 2015 Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY Award, 34 Blues Music Awards (the most any artist has received), the Billboard Magazine Century Award for distinguished artistic achievement, a Kennedy Centre Honour, and the Presidential National Medal of Arts. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #23 in its "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."
Drunk Feminist Films presents: SPICE WORLD
Apollo Cinema | 141 Ontario St N, Kitchener | Fri, Apr 22 | 9:30pm
I'm trying to convince my wife to go to this because she owns the Spice World soundtrack on CD. Drunk Feminist Films brings you the late '90s pop culture explosion SPICE WORLD. Pile onto the double-decker Spice Bus and get ready for madcap adventures with live commentary steeped in GIRL POWER ✌ Cosplay heartily welcomed (platforms! body glitter! Union Jack dresses! tearaway pants! fake British accents!).
Where to be for...
...Music
Practically Hip
Fri, Apr 22 | 7:30pm
Maxwell's
35 University Ave E, Waterloo
$15/adv
...Food
Lunch on the Run
Every Wednesday
Taco Farm
8 Erb St W, Waterloo
$5 for two
...Movie
Hotel Transylvania 2
Sun, Apr 24 | 2pm
Kitchener Public Library
85 King St, Kitchener
Free