Pür & Simple has finally cracked the downtown Toronto market. After six years of searching, the breakfast franchise has signed for a 3,500-plus-square-foot flagship at 110 Harbour Street in the Harbourfront district.
The deal marks a major milestone for the Quebec-based chain, which has been on a growth tear—expanding from 50 locations in January to 79 stores today across Canada.
“This will be our flagship Toronto location, positioned in a prime location next to Harbour 60 Steakhouse,” said Sean Sarrami, the brand’s Chief Development Officer. “Most importantly, it will showcase the newest design we have across our entire brand.”
The space will seat more than 130 guests and potentially include a small patio. More significantly, it puts Pür & Simple inside Menkes Developments’ Shops at One York—a 170,000-square-foot mixed-use project that’s become a community destination in the South Core.
The development houses The Second City, Winners, and HealthOne, while sitting across from Impact Kitchen and the recently opened Casa 73. It’s also PATH-connected to Union Station and the Financial District, giving the breakfast concept access to both office workers from the 800,000-square-foot tower above and roughly 2,000 condo residents.
The search wasn’t easy. “I’ve been actively searching for the right downtown Toronto opportunity for six years,” Sarrami said. “The challenge with Toronto isn’t just finding prime real estate—it’s securing locations with business terms that ensure brand and franchise partner success. Many Toronto properties are overpriced relative to the returns they can generate.”
Construction starts once city permits are approved, with opening targeted for mid-2026. Franchise partners Rafi, Kawaljit, and Sandeep will operate the location.
From Laval to National Player
The road to downtown Toronto started in 2016 when Derek Massad and Ritou Maloni opened their first location in Laval, Quebec. Their goal: make breakfast better than the typical diner experience.
“Back in the day, breakfast was a diner experience,” Maloni told 6ixRetail in January. “It was like a greasy spoon. Who cares where you were, as long as you got your quasi-good coffee, bacon and eggs really quickly, and you were out the door.”
The early days were rough. “When we started in Laval in 2016, we messed up a lot,” Maloni admitted. “We had a menu that didn’t cater to the masses. We just thought we knew everything.”
Those mistakes led to changes that paid off. System-wide sales jumped 23.49% in 2024, with same-store sales up 3.69%. When 6ixRetail spoke with Maloni in January about their Bayview Village opening, she mentioned they were “actively exploring downtown Toronto locations.” Ten months later, that exploration has paid off.
Rapid-Fire Expansion
The numbers tell the story. Since hitting 50 locations in January, Pür & Simple has added 29 new stores across Canada. Recent openings include Kitchener, multiple North York locations, Brampton Gateway, Thunder Bay, Brantford, and their first Manitoba store in Winnipeg, which opened yesterday. The Winnipeg location at 660 Sterling Lyon Parkway in Seasons of Tuxedo is operated by franchise partner Kushdeep, marking both his first Pür & Simple location and the brand’s entry into Manitoba.
They’re now operating 79 locations with 13 more in development. Several have firm opening dates: Waterdown opens November 25, Edmonton Sherwood Park on December 9, Sault Ste. Marie March 17, and Sydney, Nova Scotia March 24. Others in the pipeline include Bedford, N.S., LaSalle, Welland, Sarnia, St. Thomas, Woodstock, and Vancouver’s Meridian location.
“Despite the challenging economic environment, we’re significantly outperforming other brands in our sector,” Sarrami said. The company created more than 300 jobs last year and now employs nearly 1,500 people. About 15 more locations are being negotiated.
The ‘Better Breakfast’ Play
Pür & Simple doesn’t position itself as just another breakfast chain. Sarrami calls it the “better breakfast category”—higher-end design, stronger service, better ingredients. New locations cost about $1 million to build versus $800,000 for typical competitors.
“We’re essentially the Keg of breakfast dining,” Sarrami explained. “Just as The Keg represents premium steakhouse dining with elevated service, design, and experience, that’s exactly what we deliver in the breakfast and brunch space.”
The strategy extends to site selection. They target medium-to-high-income communities and analyze demographics deeply—household incomes, population density, traffic patterns. “We only enter markets where we can ensure long-term success for both the brand and our franchise partners,” Sarrami said.
There’s also a hospitality focus built into the franchise model. “We emphasize to all our franchise partners that they’re entering the hospitality business first, with food service as the foundation,” he said.
U.S. Push Underway
The company isn’t stopping at the Canadian border. They’re already operating in San Antonio with rights sold for nine more stores there. Expansion includes 10 locations in North Carolina, 13 in Fort Lauderdale (one under construction), and six in Orlando (one under construction). Same playbook: demographics-driven site selection and franchise partner success over rapid scaling.
What It Means
The downtown Toronto move is both milestone and test case. Toronto’s restaurant scene is notoriously competitive, and commercial real estate costs are punishing. Success here validates the premium positioning strategy and could inform how they approach other major urban markets.
Landing next to Harbour 60—which 6ixRetail covered during its opening—puts them in established company. The Shops at One York location gives them built-in foot traffic from office workers and condo residents, plus spillover from neighboring restaurants and entertainment venues.
For Toronto’s breakfast market, Pür & Simple’s entry signals that demand for elevated morning dining experiences remains strong, even in tough economic times. Their success translating Quebec breakfast culture across Canada suggests the refined approach should work with downtown Toronto’s diverse customer base.
With 40 more Canadian locations planned, this flagship will showcase their design evolution while testing urban market strategies that could shape future metropolitan expansion.
Dustin Fuhs is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of 6ix Retail, Toronto’s premier source for retail and hospitality industry news. As the former Editor-in-Chief of Retail Insider, Canada’s most-read retail trade publication, Dustin brings over two decades of expertise spanning retail, marketing, entertainment and hospitality sectors. His experience includes leadership roles with industry giants such as The Walt Disney Company, The Hockey Hall of Fame, Starbucks and Blockbuster.
Recognized as a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert in 2024 and 2025, Dustin delivers insider perspectives on Toronto’s evolving retail landscape, from emerging brands to established players reshaping the city’s commercial districts.