Sadly, Bloor West Village has been "discovered" by the corporate powers. Over the last year, the character of the neighbourhood has slowly been changing. One of the first signs was the loss of a crafts and jewellery shop, replaced with a Roots Kids outlet. Next came the conversion of a humble local movie house into a huge, bloated Chapters store. Now the cornerstone cheese shop mentioned above by kamamer is gone, fled south towards the Queensway¹. The Cheese Boutique was forced out by inflated rents, and was slated to be replaced by a Gap store. Local outcry foxed this, and now the space is occupied by a home decorating store and a Victoriana shop (better, but I miss the cheese!).
1. A large but somewhat out-of-the-way store at 45 Ripley Ave, well off the main TTC routes.