Location: Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West in Toronto
Budget conscious shoppers should take the TTC streetcars and stop along Spadina from Dundas to College where shop and street vendors sell the cheapest new clothing on clearance or bulk discount prices! Cotton tshirts of various colours and sizes sell for 5 for $10 or less which is about $2 per tshirt. Nice blouses and pattern dresses for going out sell for $10 each. Fancy bras and underwear for lovers gift items go for $5. Men's Winter and Spring jackets are sold for only $5! The clothes are probably imported from 3rd world sweat shops in China, Bangladesh, and Pakistan but the quality is good despite the cheap cost. Kensington Market nearby sells old and used clothes for the same prices but those are vintage and used, not new. For housewares, a big store Tap Phong has many shelves overflowing with cheap household items and appliances for the kitchen, bathroom and living room decorations with Oriental and Asian styles, and hardware products. There are other stores that sell Asian movies and music, chopsticks and incense, bubble tea and tea sets. For pastries go to Dingdong and Furama at $1 per cake slice, or 3 buns for $1. There are Vietnamese sub 6" sandwiches for $1.50 or 3 food items with rice for $5 at one of the Vietnamese restaurants Banh Mi. Some of the popular food spots are Pho Hung for Vietnamese and Bright Pearl for Chinese dim sum. For groceries, there are many bins full of fresh vegetables and fruit from local farms and some imported such as mangoes at 5 for $5 or strawberries at 3 small plastic boxes for $5. This is a one stop street shopping for bargain hunters! Even poor people can afford to dress and eat with these prices. Take the trip for an afternoon of cheap fun as many families do crowding the streets along these few blocks. It can be habit forming.
