Black Market Vintage Clothing started in the early 80's out of the back seat of a Honda Civic when our founder, John Christmann, saw a need for well-worn thrashed clothing that was synonymous with the coolest of the cool punk rock generation.

John found a source for used clothing and opened up shop from his parked car on Queen Street West; music blaring from the AM radio. When word got out that the sickest clothing on Queen was coming from the trunk of a car, OCAD students, local artists, musicians and those aspiring to be them stopped traffic to shop for good secondhand vintage threads.

Since then, John moved his vintage clothing business into various bricks and mortar stores, and after trying a few different locations (one in Kensington Market named Style Zone) he settled on the block next to Much Music on Queen Street West and opened Black Market. We're located upstairs and downstairs in the same block today with the music still blaring.

The iconic basement location opened in 2008 and after a wild "Everything $10" Boxing Day promotion, the owners decided to keep everything $10 all the time. After the pandemic, clothing and other costs soared, forcing a modest price increase.

While we sincerely appreciate the recognition from various media for remaining of Toronto's best and biggest vintage clothing stores, our greatest achievement comes from earning the loyalty of our long-standing weekly customers and hearing from those who return years later to tell us how important Black Market was to their Toronto youth.

We sincerely appreciate you stopping by.

Photo credit: kaybee07-Toronto Architecture.