Bell Jewellers to close its doors
Call it the end of an era.
Bell Jewellers, the longest-running business on Bayview Avenue in Leaside, is expected to be closing its doors at the end of January, with the retirement of owner Photis Philos.
The store at 1597 Bayview Ave. has been in business for 78 years. Badali’s Fruit Market, located a few doors down, will then become the oldest continually operating store on the Leaside side of Bayview. It has been there for 76 years.
Philos, 68, took over Bell Jewellers in 1980. He tells the Town Crier that unless someone offers to buy the store he will be closing up shop.
“The ‘Mayor of Bayview’ I’ve been called,” he said. “My friends here say Bayview’s never going to be the same without me.”
He says his immediate plans after closing will be “playing golf” and “visiting Mediterranean islands.”
Bell Jewellers will begin winding down operations with a liquidation sale, scheduled to start on Nov. 22.
