Drake General Store

Drake General Store opened in 2008 as the retail counterpart to the Drake Hotel on West Queen West in Toronto, co-founded by Jeff Stober — the hotel's CEO — along with Carlo Colacci and Joyce Lo. It began in a vacant storefront next to the hotel, built around a 'Canadiana' concept: gifts, home goods and souvenirs sourced primarily from Canadian makers and manufacturers, mixed with a smaller selection of curated international goods. The format proved successful enough to outgrow its role as a single hotel gift shop; the company opened additional standalone locations and, in 2016, a three-story flagship store, alongside shop-in-shop placements such as one in Vancouver. It also built out a significant e-commerce operation to extend beyond its physical Toronto and Vancouver footprint. The store operates under Drake Hotel Properties, the same ownership group behind the Drake Hotel itself, and is positioned as a distinctly Canadian retail brand rather than an import of the boutique-hotel-gift-shop format.