Eaton's College Street (1930) plaque, 2023.  

Plaque Text

Enter text here This building — one of Toronto's Art Deco landmarks — was the flagship store of the T. Eaton Co. department store empire. The store would have been the largest retail complex in the world, but the Great Depression forced Eaton's to scale back the design. Founded in 1869 at Queen and Yonge Streets by Irish immigrant Timothy Eaton, the T. Eaton Co. became the most dominant retail company in Canada, with stores in every major city and national mail-order catalogues. In 1928, Eaton's announced it planned to build the world's largest retail and office building. Designed by the architecture firms Ross and MacDonald of Montreal and Sproatt and Rolph of Toronto, the store was to occupy an entire city block, with a 32-floor skyscraper rising from its core. The economic collapse of 1929 that led to the Great Depression forced Eaton's to abandon the central tower. The current building, with its limestone exterior and details of nickel and copper, opened in 1930. When the Eaton Centre opened in 1977, Eaton's closed its College Street store. The company sold the building, which became a mixed-use mall. In 2004, the seventh floor was renovated and reopened as The Carlu. Designated in 1975 under the Ontario Heritage Act.