Pigeon Cafe, also known as “the world’s worst coffee”, has opened right next to the Hockey Hall of Fame in downtown Toronto’s Brookfield Place.
The Montreal-based company is coming off a successful launch of full service Pigeon restaurant concept on King Street in the Entertainment District in 2023.
The new Brookfield Place location marks a milestone for the company.
“We believe that this location will bring a breath of tropical fresh air into the Path,” shared Jonathan Dresner, Founder and Owner of Pigeon Espresso Bar. “No matter where people visit Pigeon Cafe, we want them to feel as though they travelled on vacation, whether it’s for a cocktail with a friend or even if it’s to grab a quick cup of the world’s worst coffee on the go.”
Pigeon took over a high-traffic location outside the main entrance of the Hockey Hall of Fame, which was previously home to Starbucks.
Before the Seattle-based giant took the full space, half of the store footprint was home to the retail gift shop of the Hockey Hall of Fame. As part of a grand opening on November 5th, 2010, the Spirit of Hockey gift shop opened upstairs in a street-front space during a re-configuration of the museum, which saw guests exit up a set of stairs to the new gift shop versus leaving through the downstairs.
“Our guests can explore a greater variety of international hockey exhibits along with an enhanced retail shopping experience,” said Phil Pritchard, Hockey Hall of Fame Vice-President and Curator as part of a press release for the opening. “By relocating and expanding the Spirit of Hockey store to street level, valuable space was made available in the concourse to further showcase the game’s global reach in the expanded Tissot World of Hockey Zone, now our largest dedicated exhibit area.”
The new Spirit of Hockey allowed the iconic Sam Pollock Square within Brookfield Place to have anchors that focused on the guest experience – with Roots, Tim Hortons, Gateway Newstands and the former Marche food hall.
Spirit of Hockey recently completed a minor renovation, with talk of a future full-scale redesign being shelved during the pandemic.
The identity of Pigeon is continuing to evolve and adapt as the brand finds its place in the neighbourhoods that it opens in.
“We evolved from a 150 square foot espresso bar location with no food or seating, into a network of stores that have a variety of food and beverages, some with table service and a full bar and some with grab and go. We have too much fun being silly and creative which makes it hard to stay consistent but easy for each location to have its own unique charm.”
“The challenge in continuing to grow over the years will be to control ourselves a little more so that we can more easily replicate what works and try having fun in other ways than always trying to do new things.”
Pigeon Cafe Brookfield Place is opening up within days of two new food offerings outside of the Hockey Hall of Fame, with Dave’s Hot Chicken and Forest Hill Farmhouse taking over the former concourse level of Marché.
California-based Dave’s Hot Chicken is coming off a recent high-profile opening in Toronto, with the debut of a store just north of Yonge Dundas Square in the former 7-Eleven space across from the Toronto Metropolitan University campus.
Pigeon brings another offering to the largest underground shopping complex in the world according to Guinness World Records, with 371,600 square meters of retail space and 1200 retail storefronts.
The next step for The PATH, coming out of the pandemic, was to attract unique brands that were ready to invest in the future of the Financial District. Retail Insider will be doing a follow-up article on the stores that have recently opened and more that are planned throughout the core.
Dresner said that the brand was ready to take on the challenge of the PATH.
“As always, a lot of fun, passion and hard work went into designing this store. We want the community in the PATH to come to Pigeon for so many different occasions. Coffee and food to go but also to sit down and enjoy it on the premises which is breathtaking. Work meetings or to catch a break with a friend or associate.
“We want people to come here for a drink after work and we also have a special plan for Pigeon Cafe Brookfield. We want this location to be used as an event space for corporate and private functions and we are confident that people will be blown away with what we can offer them.”
Pigeon Cafe Brookfield is just the latest for the brand, but Dresner has more up his sleeve.
“We don’t have too much of a concrete plan laid out but we do have a few more locations under development that are fun and exciting. We definitely want to keep expanding and having fun and to start selling more Pigeon coffee online and in other stores.”
