If you’ve walked past Lox + Schmear on St. Clair West over the last five months, you’ve probably seen locked doors and dark windows far more often than fresh bagels and smoked salmon. Founder Lev Levine is sharing what went wrong and asking the Toronto community to help keep the shop alive.
What started as a routine shop upgrade quickly turned into a series of costly setbacks.
Back in March, Levine invested in a new HVAC system after nine years in business, hoping to better handle Toronto’s humid summers. An improper installation led to immediate system failures and $7,000 in repairs out of pocket.
Then, just weeks later in April, a fire in the building above triggered the sprinklers, flooding the back room and forcing a five-week shutdown — just as Levine had welcomed a newborn baby.
“Reaching out like this takes a tremendous amount of vulnerability. Asking for help doesn’t come easily to me, but keeping Lox + Schmear alive means putting my pride aside and leaning on the incredible community that has supported me from day one.”
The bad luck continued. In July, an accidental power outage knocked out the shop’s main refrigeration, destroying $12,000 worth of food inventory and forcing another full-weekend closure. The loss wasn’t covered by insurance.
Then in August, another three-week closure was needed to complete structural flood repairs, adding more expenses and tax obligations.
After months of dealing with problems in the building, Levine decided it was time to move Lox + Schmear to a more stable location nearby.
But the repeated closures had drained the business’s financial reserves, leaving Levine facing the costs of reopening just as the bills for the move started piling up. Those include $13,000 in commercial lease deposits, $2,000 in legal fees, $4,000 to relocate HVAC equipment and $3,000 to move kitchen equipment.
To help cover those costs and reopen in the new year, Levine has launched a Relocation & Reopening Campaign asking the community to pitch in. So far, 184 donations have raised $14,403 toward the $40,000 goal.
There are also other ways to support Lox + Schmear. Customers can purchase e-gift cards, visit when the shop is open or simply share the campaign online.
You can read the full update and donate through the GoFundMe campaign or through the link in Lox + Schmear’s Instagram bio.