BY JEN CHAE
The southeast corner of Yonge and Gould could be home to a bustling student-run coffee shop with a full cappuccino bar and open-mic nights — if Ryerson had the money.
At a meeting with the Eyeopener, President Sheldon Levy said he envisions a coffee shop run by students at Yonge and Gould streets across from the former Sam the Record Man site.
“I love to just sit with a coffee and a newspaper. There’s no place to go around here,” said Levy.
“What I would love to do is have, I’d call it the students’ coffee shop… like a Ryerson cappuccino bar where you could have music and sit.”
He added that the shop could be run by business or hospitality and tourism management students. As well, Ryerson’s musically-inclined students could participate in open-mic nights.
The site, previously home to a shoe store, is available for lease at $28,000 a month — a figure that Levy calls unreasonable.
The broker for the rent space, Emile Amar of T.O. and GTA Realty Inc. refers to the spot as a high exposure corner.
“We were considering having a Starbucks at that location, but they ended up in the AMC building,” said Amar, who believes a student-run coffee shop is an excellent idea.
Just up the block, the corner of Yonge and Gerrard streets is a spot Levy has identified as a more affordable option for a student-run coffee shop. The site is currently a jewellery store.
Regardless of where it could be, first-year business management student, Geremy Schlesinger, would love to see the coffee shop happen.
“A student-run shop would provide a chance for business students to apply what they learn in class to the outside world,” he said.
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