What used to be a popular coffee shop is now a magic mushroom dispensary on Queen Street West.
In November, the psilocybin dispensary chain FunGuyz informed staff by email of the imminent closure of the network's 30-odd shops provincewide, including ten locations in Toronto and the surrounding area.
But it seems those plans have been aborted.
Recently, the company opened its new location on Queen Street West, near Lansdowne, in what was formerly the site of the popular coffee shop Larry’s Folly.
The location is one of 18 active storefronts still listed on the company’s website provincewide, including eight in Toronto and North York.
Other locations in the city include shops on Queen East, on the Danforth and in Kensington Market.
On Wednesday, a worker at the Queen West psilocybin dispensary told TorontoToday he, too, had understood that the network of stores would close, but said it appears not to be the case.
“I think there’s enough money in it — and I imagine the police have better things to do,” said the worker, who did not want to provide his name.
TorontoToday contacted FunGuyz to inquire about the company’s plans but did not receive a response prior to publication.
‘A haunted house’
In an interview outside the shop on Tuesday, FunGuyz customer Lorenzo Colagiacomo told TorontoToday he was glad the shop had opened a new storefront in Parkdale.
“It’s pretty cool for the neighbourhood. Something new, right?” he said.
But Ray Turner, a manager of the coffee shop that used to be in the building, now called Larry’s Place, said she has mixed feelings.
When the coffee shop’s lease ended a few months ago, the owner decided not to renew it on account of a rent increase, among other issues, she said.
The semi-rebranded Larry’s Place has since moved to a nearby storefront on Queen Street West near Brock Avenue.
“For me, walking by it, it’s sort of like a haunted house,” Turner said of the FunGuyz shop. “It used to be a vape shop before it was Larry’s Folly and now it’s kind of like it's come full circle.”
Police ‘largely focused’ on drug trafficking
Nationwide, the sale of psilocybin, one of the active ingredients in magic mushrooms, is illegal. However, over the past several years, the risk of arrest has not stopped some companies from establishing shops to sell the product to willing customers.
At the Queen West store on Tuesday, FunGuyz marketed a variety of magic mushroom products, including gummies, capsules and tea for sale.
Strains advertised include “Penis Envy,” “African Pyramid” and “Amazonian.” Products were marketed as supporting a variety of moods, calm, energy and focus, among them.
Bags of psilocybin gummies ranged in price from $35 to $90, depending on the size.
When asked about FunGuyz on Queen Street West, Toronto Police Service spokesperson Nadine Ramadan said the force had no comment.
By email, she said the service is “largely focused” on the trafficking of illegal drugs resulting in overdose deaths.
She added, however, that when reports are made about an illegal dispensary, the police investigate.
FunGuyz staff facing charges
In November, a longtime FunGuyz employee told TorontoToday that police had cracked down on the storefronts — at one point raiding eight or nine of the companies’ shops in one day.
The employee said she was working at one of the locations during a raid and now faces criminal charges for possession of proceeds of crime and distribution of a Schedule 3 narcotic.
Toronto Police clarified that without a Health Canada exemption, anyone producing or selling psilocybin is committing an offence and could be subject to charges.
Despite the charges, however, the worker said she was devastated by the planned closure of the dispensaries. She said FunGuyz paid staff well and provided customers with a product she believes should remain accessible to the public.
The worker said that when staff took a job with FunGuyz, the company told them about the risk of raids and promised to pay for a lawyer, should they be charged.
Larry’s Folly now Larry’s Place
Facing the proposed rent increase at their former location, the owner of Larry’s Folly moved the coffee shop to a new spot about a block away.
What was Larry’s Folly is now Larry’s Place, located at 1390 Queen St. W.
Turner said the owner of the shop spent months getting the new place ready for customers — a significant investment of time and energy.
Still, on the first day the new location opened in December, she said she realized that it wasn’t the physical building that mattered most.
“It’s the people,” she said. “I’m just so glad we’ve been able to stay in Parkdale.”
