Ruru Baked, a popular Toronto-based ice cream shop renowned for its French-style custard scoops and inventive flavors, will close its Pacific Mall location on March 23 due to a steep rent increase. The closure comes less than two years after the store first opened in April 2023.
The shop, known for unique ice cream varieties such as everything bagel, banoffee pie, and Filipino-inspired mais con yelo, also offers a selection of baked goods like sticky toffee cake and Hawaiian butter mochi. However, the decision to close the Pacific Mall branch stems from the end of the shop’s lease and the unaffordable rent hike proposed by the landlord, which the team said would not be sustainable based on the location’s sales.
In a statement, Ruru Baked explained that the rent increase was too high relative to the revenue generated by the store. Additionally, the Pacific Mall location has strict operational limitations, such as restrictions on cooking, preventing the shop from offering coffee, tea, waffle cones, or baked goods. Short mall hours, with the location closing by 8 p.m., further impacted the store’s profitability compared to their other site at Lansdowne, where late-night business thrives.
The announcement of the closure has drawn emotional responses from loyal customers, many of whom expressed their disappointment on social media. “The only reason why I go to this mall. A tragedy,” one customer commented, while another added, “Their loss. Best ice cream and staff around. Looking forward to the next chapter!”
Looking ahead, Ruru Baked is set to take a new direction with the launch of the Ruru Truck. Scheduled for the spring, the mobile ice cream truck will operate in private lots across Toronto, including neighborhoods like Parkdale, Queen East, The Distillery, and Leslieville. Customers have also been invited to suggest potential locations for the truck in areas such as Scarborough, Markham, Pickering, Mississauga, Etobicoke, and North York.
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