The Find: a sturdy, high-end umbrella we’d never lose or throw away
Cheap, wasteful umbrellas are a dime a dozen in Toronto, and we can’t count how many times we’ve hastily purchased a $10 option when caught unexpectedly in a downpour. Then, like most people who frequent the PATH on their morning commute, we came across Raindrops, and we were dumbfounded by the selection of high-end umbrellas. Our favourite was a sturdy, stark black option with Swarovski crystal embellishments, by Italian umbrella maker Pasotti. This version of the ultimate spring essential tweaks some of the traditional aspects of umbrellas, with design details like an engraved steel handle and a fully lined canopy to ensure the umbrella won’t turn inside out or blow away, with or without a kung fu grip. $295.
Raindrops, 100 Front Street W. (underground), 416-203-7246, www.raindropsto.com
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A $300 umbrella. Yeah, that’s totally reasonable.
I agree. I like a sturdy umbrella as much as the next person, but I’m not about to pay $300 for one. TL, maybe you can use your journalistic prowess to find a decent umbrella somewhere between the $10 and $300 price points?
To be fair to Raindrops, it stocks a broad range of umbrellas and most of them are much more reasonably priced and of good quality. I’ve bought several umbrellas there for $30-$50, which, while more than the $10 cheapie at SDM, is still affordable.
Toronto Life just zoomed in on the most outrageous–and possibly the only $$$–umbrella in the store.
I go to Winners for umbrellas because you can often score a high end, sturdy umbrella like the one in the article, for a cheap price. (I bought one for $40 that I later found at a store in Yorkville for $285)
@ Parker…
Umbrellas from Raindrops can’t be that great if you’ve had to purchase several of them.
I got one from Wally 4 years ago for $8.99 and it’s still doing what it’s supposed to do. People it’s an umbrella, worst case you get a little wet. Deal with it!
First of all, while the sarcastic commentors choose not to spend $295 for an umbrella, there are those that will. Secondly, this is not an average umbrella. It stated in the article that it has Swarovski crystals on it and it is made in Italy which will, respectively, increase the price. Toronto Life did show their “journalistic prowess” by including the link to Raindrops website. All Jimbo had to do was click on it and he would have found out that there are umbrellas that meet his price range. Thirdly, what is the point of carrying an umbrella if you are going to “get a little wet” as Gabrielle indicated? I say spend more money on a quality umbrella as it will last longer and we can reduce the amount of broken umbrellas that end up in our landfill sites.
‘The Find’… it seems to me that you simply found an overpriced umbrella store with some novelty items that would appeal to a small segment of the population. After a certain point the quality of an umbrella does not increase with an increase in price… the prices at raindrops are well beyond this threshold. I agree with Jenny, Winners carries quality umbrellas for much lower prices.
To Deborah: including a link to the store is not a show of ‘journalistic prowess’ but a standard that is expected in any article that is promoting a certain product.
Yeah, and then forget it on the subway. That’s why people end up buying several umbrellas: they’re silly and they get lost. (People and umbrellas.)