Canada’s First All-Vegan Retail Shop Launches

Canada’s first ever all-vegan retail concept store The Imperative opens today in Toronto. The shop was launched by parent company and vegan media outlet Ecorazzi, which also owns a Toronto franchise location of vegan eatery Doomie’s Home Cookin’. The Imperative will feature “The Great Wall of Vegan”—an area stocked floor-to-ceiling with vegan winter coats, leather-free designer handbags, cruelty-free cosmetics, and more. The shop will also feature a vegan shoe room—an entire lower-level filled with ethically produced vegan shoes. Owner Hellenic Vincent De Paul explained the motivation behind opening the shop. “We believe that veganism is a moral imperative, and that the next generation is eager to shop with that in mind,” Vincent De Paul said. In 2017, The Imperative will also be launching an online shop to serve customers outside of Toronto.