Shoe stores in Toronto: 12 shops by the pair you want

Pick a shoe store in Toronto by the pair: these 12 cover designer, boots, dress shoes made to measure and walking. Ranking them misses the point, because each counter does one job and keeps its own rule for after you pay. Every rule below comes from each shop's own pages.

On 14 September 2026, John Fluevog brought back the Original Angels, its 1990s line built to be resoled. The shoes are handmade in Vietnam and Goodyear welted, on a new sole of half natural tree latex, half rubber. That sole still carries the old promise to resist alkali, water, acid, fatigue and Satan, and John adds a new message: "Walk in Peace."

The Crown Derby costs $699 on Fluevog's Canadian site, and when the heels or soles wear down, the pair goes back to a Fluevog store to be repaired. Toronto has one at 819 Queen St W, a space a national bank once used; its store page says John saw "no safer place" for his shoes. A shoe shop, in other words, is also a promise about the second year.

Quick facts

• The count: 12 shops, four kinds of pair.
• Queen Street West: Australian Boot Company at 698, heel boy at 773, John Fluevog at 819, gravitypope at 1010.
• Return windows: 30 days at Australian Boot Company, 14 days in store at John Fluevog, 7 days to request one online at 119 Corbò.
• Made to order: any Paolo Scafora model at Via Cavour; a double monk strap is $2,950.
• The years: Browns 1940, Mister Safety Shoes 1972, heel boy 1998, Imelda 2009.
• Guidi boots: 26 pairs at a Yorkville boutique, $679 to $2,650, read 29 September 2026.

For boots you mean to keep

John Fluevog and Peter Fox opened Fox and Fluevog in Gastown, Vancouver, in 1970. The Queen Street shop, open since 1989, spent 26 years at 242 Queen St W and a decade at 686 before moving to 819. In store, an unworn full price pair can be exchanged or refunded within 14 days, and sale pairs are final.

Australian Boot Company opened its first store on Queen Street West in 1993 and sells Blundstones and handmade R.M. Williams boots at 698 Queen Street West today. A Blundstone half size adds room over the foot, not length, its sizing page says.

Either make gets a free shine and conditioning there, wherever it was bought, and the shop pays for your parking. A full refund runs 30 days, if the boots have not been worn outside or treated with polish or conditioner.

Work boots are their own errand. Red Wing, at 21 Rexdale Blvd #4106 in Etobicoke, scans each foot in 360 degrees and gives free oil, conditioning and laces for the life of the boots. Canadian since 1972, Mister Safety Shoes is at 2300 Finch Avenue West, Unit 6, North York, and its trucks, called Shoemobiles, bring more than 100 styles to workplaces.

Guidi began in 1896 as a tannery in Pescia, Tuscany, and its shoes are sewn in off white leather, then dyed in a turning drum, zips and all. The Guidi boot shelf has 26 pairs at a Yorkville boutique, $679 to $2,650 CAD, and they ship worldwide. Whichever boot you buy, the winter boots note covers what a Toronto winter does to leather.

For the designer pair

Established in 2006, 119 Corbò at 119 Yorkville Avenue is run by a mother and daughter, Linda Perisa and Gianna Ritacca. The Row's Hike Boot is $2,260 there, Khaite's Nevada ankle boot $2,400 and the Maison Margiela Tabi New Ballerina $1,290.

Its returns page sets the rule: try footwear on carpeted surfaces, to prevent scuffing. Only full price pieces go back, unworn, and an online return has to be requested within 7 days of delivery.

At 1010 Queen Street West, gravitypope fills two floors with footwear, clothing and fragrance. Its first footwear boutique opened in Edmonton in 1990, and the Toronto store followed in November 2012 as its first micro department store.

Its site lists Fracap's M120, handcrafted in the brand's workshop in Puglia on a Vibram sole, at $520. Online, a refund runs 7 days from delivery and store credit 21, and anything 25% off or more is final sale.

For the dress shoe, or one made for your foot

Via Cavour, at 87 Avenue Road, has sold Italian menswear since 2003, with shoes by Paolo Scafora of Naples, a maker at work since 1956. A double monk strap in Oceano, made exclusively for the shop, runs $2,950, with full Goodyear construction, a hand polished finish and hand painted colour. Every Scafora model can be made to order through the store, with free shoe trees and a monogram.

Two brothers, François and Vincent Thériault, founded Surmesur in Quebec City in 2010, and its made to measure shoes are handmade in Spain. The Whole Cut is crafted from a single piece of leather. Book an appointment at 33 Yonge Street, entrance on Scott Street, facing Berczy Park; it is closed Sunday and Monday.

Benjamin Brownstein opened Browns in 1940 as one store on St. Catherine Street in Montreal. In 1959 it became the first North American retailer to carry luxury Italian made brands.

Salvatore Ferragamo filled Browns' orders for shoes and bags personally, as a favour to Benjamin's son Morton. The Toronto Eaton Centre store shares 220 Yonge Street with the sister chain B2, and returns are free within 30 days of delivery.

For walking all day

Cool East Market, at 1390 Danforth Ave by Greenwood station, sells minimal footwear from Xero Shoes, Lems, Vivobarefoot, Be Lenka and Altra. Its shoes are zero drop, a flat sole that raises neither heel nor toes, with wide toe boxes.

The tabi, "the mittens of the sock world" in the shop's words, began in the 15th century as a sock worn with sandals like geta and zori. Cool East Market has sold them since 1999, and jikatabi boots, the outdoor tabi on a rubber sole, since 2006. (The split toe on the $1,290 Margiela ballerina at 119 Corbò is the same idea, and Tabi sizing is a note of its own.)

A standing board in the shop lets you test a shoe on uneven ground. Pairs come back in brand new condition, tried on indoors only, with no set time limit. It is closed Sunday and Monday.

Imelda, a shoe and gift boutique since 2009, is at 123 Roncesvalles Avenue, just south of Galley Avenue, and closed on Mondays. It carries Vagabond, Clarks and Camper, and it does not ship; free delivery runs within 4 km on orders of $250 and over. Its terms page puts it plainly: "It's just one person doing deliveries, twice a week."

A Canadian, women owned shop established in 1998, heel boy is at 773 Queen St W, with a second store in Kingston. Camper, Sam Edelman, Vagabond, New Balance and Keen are all on its list.

A kind line opens its returns page: "We understand the shoe doesn't always fit." Online orders get a refund within 14 days; in store, the answer is store credit, and it never expires.

Buy the pair for the job, then read the rule for the second year.

For sneakers, a note of their own

Sneakers are a trade of their own, with launch calendars and resale counters. The sneaker stores note sorts those shops the same way, by the pair you want, with the rule at each.

Before you pay, read the rule

The Queen Street West shops run between 698 and 1010, Yorkville has 119 Corbò and Via Cavour, and Browns and Surmesur are on Yonge Street downtown. The rest sit apart, at the addresses above. Surmesur, Cool East Market and Imelda close on Mondays.

Try shoes on indoors: 119 Corbò's returns page asks for carpet, and Cool East Market takes back only pairs tried on inside. Keep the box clean and untaped, because heel boy charges $10 for one that comes back taped or marked. Ask whether a sale pair is final; at 119 Corbò, John Fluevog and Via Cavour, it is.

For fit, read whether designer shoes run big or small before you pick a size. In any city, the rule is part of the shoe.

Common questions

What shoe stores are in the Toronto Eaton Centre?

The Eaton Centre, at 220 Yonge Street, has Browns and B2, SoftMoc on Level 1 and the HOKA Store in Store B225B. The HOKA Store opens 10 to 9 Monday to Saturday, 11 to 7 Sunday. Browns takes returns free within 30 days of delivery.

Where are the shoe stores in downtown Toronto?

Downtown, they are on Queen Street West, between 698 and 1010, and on Yonge Street, where Surmesur is at 33 and Browns at 220. The Queen Street West note has the rest of that street.

What shoe stores are at Yorkdale?

Browns, B2 and SoftMoc all list stores at Yorkdale, 3401 Dufferin Street, with SoftMoc in Unit 6A. SoftMoc has been Canadian owned since 1990.

Every business above is independent, was verified open as of August 2026, and nobody paid to be here. If one has closed or moved, tell us at hello@shopwithin.co and we will fix it.

within opens October 1. Toronto is open now, with the cities in this journal to follow. The waiting list is open in every one of them.