Shopsy's
Encyclopedia
Delicatessen
Delicatessen is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". The word entered English via German,with the old German spelling , plural of Delikatesse "delicacy", ultimately from Latin delicatus....
restaurant in the Greater Toronto Area
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
and a brand name owned by Maple Leaf Foods
Maple Leaf Foods
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a major Canadian food processing company, founded in 1927 as a merger of several major Toronto meat packers.-History:The company was originally known as Canada Packers...
for a line of meat products.
History
In 1921, the husband-and-wife team of Harry Shopsowitz and Jenny Shopsowitz opened an 18-seat ice cream parlour at 295 Spadina AvenueSpadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods....
at Dundas Street West in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. It became Shopsowitz Delicatessen and by the mid-1940s was selling products under the Shopsy's brand name.
Harry died in October 1945 and the business was passed along to his sons, Sam Shopsowitz and Izzy Shopsowitz. They led its growth into a Toronto institution, renaming the business Shopsy's. Future Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
owner Harold Ballard
Harold Ballard
Harold E. Ballard was an owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League as well as their home arena, Maple Leaf Gardens. A member of the Leafs organization from 1940 and a senior executive from 1957, he became part-owner of the team in 1961 and was majority owner from February...
is said to have been the person who encouraged Sam to open a meat-processing plant. By 1947, Sam was being billed as "the corned beef king" in advertisements.
Izzy sold his share of the business to Sam in 1969 and Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturer founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James Darcy Lever . The brothers had invested in and promoted a new soap making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson, it was a huge success...
(part of Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
) bought the company in December 1971. Sam suffered a stroke in 1982 and died in September 1984 at age 63. After 62 years on Spadina, the restaurant moved to Yonge Street
Yonge Street
Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...
at Front Street in March 1983. Izzy died in April 1994 at age 71 after having a heart attack while in the Shopsy's restaurant. He had rejoined the business after the sale to Unilever.
In 1992, Unilever sold the manufacturing division to Maple Leaf Foods
Maple Leaf Foods
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a major Canadian food processing company, founded in 1927 as a merger of several major Toronto meat packers.-History:The company was originally known as Canada Packers...
. The restaurant business—Shopsy's Hospitality Inc.—was managed by A&W for a period in the 1990s, and then bought in 1996 by a group headed by Lewis Allen. He was CEO until leaving in 2003. As of 2005, Shopsy's Hospitality was owned by Dynamic Funds.
In 2006, Irish Pub Development Corp. bought Shopsy's restaurant.
In 2008, The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled Shopsy's had lost its lease and had to move out of its downtown location at Yonge and Front. In December 2009, the restaurant re-opened in the Sheraton Centre at 96 Richmond Street West in Toronto, with another location in Thornhill.
Meat products
- Hot dogs
- Bacon
- Corned beef
- Salami
- Pastrami
- Pastrami Sticks / Jerky
- Smoked meat
Delicatessen
Current locations:- Downtown Toronto 96 Richmond West (in the Sheraton Centre)
- Shopsy's Markham 7240 Woodbine Avenue Markham, ON L3R 1A4
- Shopsy's on Centre Island (Located across the Ferry on the Toronto Islands)
Previous locations:
- Spadina Avenue at Dundas Street West (1921-1983) - burned down in fire
- Yonge Street north of St. Clair Avenue (1998-2005) - now a pub
- King Street West at John Street (sold to Dunn's Famous)
- Yonge Street at Front Street, Toronto (evicted in 2009 by court ruling)
- Mississauga Road and Derry Road, [Mississauga]