Why Small Businesses Like Salad King Need to Be Heard
For more than 35 years, Salad King has been a fixture in Toronto. A place where students and downtown workers have gathered for an affordable, healthy meal. But today, even a restaurant with decades of history and loyal customers is struggling to stay afloat.
In a news story by journalist Dustin Fuhs on 6ixRetail, Salad King owner Alan Liu shares what the past few years have really been like for family-run businesses. The pandemic changed how people work, eat, and move around the city. Fewer people come downtown every day. Word-of-mouth doesn’t travel the way it used to. Delivery apps take a big cut of every order. Food and operating costs keep rising.
What hasn’t changed? Property taxes.
Many small businesses are still paying taxes based on how busy downtown streets were before COVID, even though foot traffic and sales haven’t fully returned. For places like Salad King, that mismatch makes survival harder every year.
This isn’t just one restaurant’s story. BIAs across Toronto are seeing the same thing: long-standing, independent businesses doing everything they can to adapt, while the cost of staying open keeps climbing. Without change, we risk losing the local shops and restaurants that give our neighbourhoods their character, only to be replaced by chains that can better absorb the costs.
That’s why TABIA applauds Salad Kind for adding their voice to the chorus of BIAs across the city are calling for property tax relief that reflects today’s reality. Supporting small businesses isn’t just about shopping local, it’s about making sure our main streets remain welcoming, diverse, and full of life.