WHAT ARE SOME POSSIBLE SCENARIOS FOR GLAD DAY’S FUTURE?

The future holds many possibiities. Here a few ways Glad Day could look in 2025.

We Stay at 499 Church Street

There are few different ways that we could end up staying at 499 Church Street.
To stay, we would probably need a combination of these things:

We secure new funding from different levels of government to continue our arts programming and community services.

We develop a reliable base of monthly donors and supporters to offset the high rent. 


We are successful with our new model that focused on increased ticket revenue for events and improved sales of local artist merchandise.

We find another organization to share the space with us. This could be another non-profit that could use the space on weekdays before 5pm when our programming is less busy.

We find another organization or business to partner or merge with, using the space together in a way that is mutually beneficial.

We attract an ‘angel investor’ who wants to see Glad Day survive and thrive and is willing to fund the unique impacts we have.

We move from 499 Church Street to somewhere else

There are many different ways this could look. But here are some possibilities:

We become ‘just a bookstore’ again in a small space, in a neighbourhood with lower rents. Our non-profit side Glad Day Lit could continue to run some arts and culture events across the city.

We secure a new space with subsidized or low rent that is facilitated by the City of Toronto and/or a City Councillor. With all the condo developments happening, this is possible, even if it is challenging. This may be in a different neighbourhood.

We set up 2 spaces - one small bookstore and one small bar - that are walking distance from each other, but with manageable rent levels. This balances both the importance of the books and the importance of a community space. It is unlikely that this could be affordable in the Church-Wellesley area. 

We share a new space with one or more other organizations, creating even more of a hub of 2SLGBTQ art, creativity, community and social services. 

Hibernation Mode or Surrender

Glad Day goes into a sort of ‘hibernation mode’. It gets packed up and stored somewhere in case there is a future where some other incarnation is possible.

Or we simply recognize that there is not enough support to continue and we surrender to ongoing gentrification and soulless capitalism of Toronto.