Shopkeepers of St Clair West
The St. Clair West neighbourhood is a community where a lot is changing - but an enduring feature to celebrate is the number of family-run shops and businesses along St. Clair. This spring we will lift up and celebrate some of those shopkeepers' interviews among the more than 40 oral history interviews posted on our website in a new Series called, “Meet Your Neighbour”. We are starting with Robert Ashley's Hair Design at 768 St. Clair Ave. W.
Robert Ashley Forster, known as Ashley by many of his customers, opened his first small shop in 1987 in a former barber shop. Over the years, he moved to larger rentals, in the same small block at the corner of Arlington and St. Clair until he and his family bought 781 St. Clair for the Hair Salon and raised their family in the renovated flat upstairs. The kids attended the local schools, starting with the Hippo Nursery School, McMurrich, Winona and Oakwood Collegiate. Ashley and his family have been active members of the community for almost 40 years.
Ashley has been at his current location on the north side of St. Clair since 2015 and weathered the covid shutdowns along with his long term staff, originally including several family members: his mother, sister Dawn and brother, John. Jackie, poised to return shortly from maternity leave, began with Ashley as an apprentice, more than 20 years ago.
Having your haircut at Ashleys is an informative affair as he helps one catch up with changes in the neighbourhood, news of friends and neighbours and a reminder of what used to be in the different locations, now burgeoning into new businesses and condo housing. A longtime member of the BIA Ashley has lots of positive things to say about his business' success in the St. Clair neighbourhood.
Listen to Ashley's 2015 interview here or meet Frank Reilly of Maple Paints and Donovan Wong of Gerry’s, the upcoming business owners in our Meet Your Neighbour series.