22 Facts About Ed Mirvish

Ed Mirvish is known for his flagship business, Honest Ed's, a landmark discount store in downtown Toronto, and as a patron of the arts, instrumental in revitalizing the theatre scene in Toronto.

Ed Mirvish's parents gave him the Hebrew name, Yehuda, but at the urging of a cousin, they added a more American name, Edwin.

Ed Mirvish often told the tale of his bris; there was no mohel in Colonial Beach, so the family hired one in nearby Washington, DC, to come down to perform the ceremony.

The family later moved to Washington, DC, where Ed Mirvish's father opened a grocery store.

Ed Mirvish dropped out of school to manage the store, becoming the sole support of his mother, his younger brother, Robert and sister, Lorraine.

The grocery business did not do well, and Ed Mirvish closed shop to reopen as a dry-cleaner, in partnership with his childhood friend, Yale Simpson.

Now financially stable, Ed Mirvish bought a Ford Model T and began to court a radio singer from Hamilton, Ontario, Anne Macklin, whom he married in 1941.

In 1943, during World War II, Ed and Anne Ed Mirvish opened a dress shop known as The Sport Bar on Bloor Street near Bathurst.

In 1948, Ed Mirvish cashed in his wife's insurance policy to open a new business, a bargain basement known as "Honest Ed's", stocked with all kinds of odd merchandise purchased at bankruptcy and fire sales, and displayed on orange crates.

Ed Mirvish claimed to have invented the "loss-leader", below-cost discounts on selected items designed to lure buyers into the store.

The store expanded and, in the late 1950s, Ed Mirvish started buying up houses on Markham Street running south from Bloor.

In June 2006, Ed and Anne Ed Mirvish marked their 65th wedding anniversary with a party at the Princess of Wales Theatre.

In July 2006, Ed Mirvish celebrated his 92nd birthday with a lavish party at Honest Ed's.

Ed Mirvish was buried at Pardes Shalom Cemetery in Maple, Ontario.

Ed Mirvish's store was closed and its lights were dimmed, as staff bid farewell to the former owner.

Ed Mirvish was renowned for his publicity stunts, doing everything from riding elephants, to hiring protesters to picket his own restaurant over its dress code.

Every Christmas, Ed Mirvish gave away ten thousand pounds of free turkeys in his store to shoppers who stood in line for hours.

Ed Mirvish purchased the building in 1963 and refurbished it, revitalizing the Toronto theatre scene.

Along the same street, Ed Mirvish later opened Ed's Seafood, Ed's Folly, Ed's Chinese, Ed's Italian Restaurant and Old Ed's or Ed's Warehouse, which attracted local residents to the previously neglected King Street area and served 6,000 meals a night.

In 2001, Ed Mirvish Enterprises signed a management contract to run the Pantages Theatre, renamed the Canon Theatre, for Clear Channel Entertainment, which had bought up the assets of the bankrupt theatre company, Livent.

The first show under the Ed Mirvish banner was a touring production of Saturday Night Fever.

Ed Mirvish was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for saving the Old Vic.