How to Build an Empire on an Orange Crate

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

It is a tradition for highly successful businessmen to be paid the
tribute of having their words of wisdom captured between hard covers.
Like the corner office with the biggest windows, it is seen as their
due, a suitable form of homage as they near the end of their careers.
Toronto’s “Honest Ed” Mirvish, however, is not a traditional
businessman—unless the tradition in question is making money—and
this is not a traditional boardroom bio.

Mirvish has achieved success in four distinct business fields:
cut-price retailing (“Honest Ed’s”), restaurants (Ed’s Warehouse
and its ilk), theatres (Royal Alexandra, Royal Victoria [Old Vic], and
Princess of Wales), and boutiques (Mirvish Village). His strong
entrepreneurial drive has taken him from high-school dropout to
financial impresario showered with honors. He’s gone from delivery boy
in his parents’ bankrupt grocery store to patron of the arts and
honored guest at Buckingham Palace.

The first part of this book tells the story of his background and the
progression of his business endeavors. What could have been another
boring eulogy is saved by the many anecdotes illustrating Mirvish’s
“chutzpah”—bucking conventional wisdom at every turn, grabbing
opportunities where others saw only invitations to disaster, and having
fun all the way to the bank.

The second part kicks sand in the face of publishing conventions by
switching to a short-snippets format. With a stand-up comic’s pacing,
Mirvish fires off 121 snappy responses to the implied question “To
what do you attribute your success?” Some are insightful; some are
even profound. Most are either outrageous or at least funny.

The book is a great blend of information and entertainment. Business
students, retailers, restaurateurs, and anyone who has ever been to
Honest Ed’s or the Royal Alex will want to read it. It is a valuable
addition to Toronto’s local history and will make a major contribution
to that city’s urban mythology.