It looks like BiWay may not be making a comeback in Toronto after all. The iconic discount store that thrived in the 1980s was initially set to return in the fall of 2020 with a giant 15,000 sq ft space on Orfus Rd, but amid the founder Mal Coven’s passing last October, it never came to be. Now, one year later, the store announced that the opening has been postponed indefinitely.

“A year ago today, we lost a very important person,” the store wrote in a statement on Instagram yesterday. “On October 7th, 2020, Mal Coven our co-founder died. We remember him today as the man that brought the original BiWay experience to Ontario, to Canada, for all to experience and enjoy. ”

The statement is followed up with an announcement about the fate of the Orfus Rd store. “We regret to inform everyone that the opening of the BiWay $10 Store has been postponed and potentially cancelled,” it says. Without Coven running the show, the plans are in limbo.

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Looking at BiWay’s website, you’d think that the store is gearing up to open its doors. It features categories of all the items and brands for sale, which include everything from clothing and bedding to kitchenware and food.

The concept for this store was to make it “no different than the original Biway stores,” Coven told Retail Insider in January 2020. Nothing would be sold for more than $10, and would even have deals like 2, 3, 4, and 5 items for $10.

Old-school commercials posted on YouTube showcase BiWay in its heyday. The discount chain was once so popular that there were 250 locations over 28 years, the outlet says.

Coven was the mastermind behind it all right until he passed away at the age of 91.  He even posed for a picture showcasing BiWay’s menswear and it was shared on Instagram back in September 2020.

Hopefully, the venture won’t get cancelled altogether and Coven’s BiWay reboot comes to fruition somehow.

Curiocity Staff

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