This hyperlocal clothing line is a love letter to Scarborough

Scarborough native Jesse Asido was working as a corporate marketer back in 2020, when he noticed that a lot of restaurants in his beloved neighbourhood were struggling due to pandemic closures. “I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands, so I used my marketing skills to shine a light on the businesses—the mom-and-pop spots I’ve always cherished.”

It turns out he wasn’t alone in that affection. The Instagram account he started, @ScarboroughSpots, took off so quickly that, by 2022, Asido had left his full-time job to grow what he hadn’t initially realized was a business. “I started the merch project about six months after launching the page,” he says. “I’ve always been interested in design, so I thought I’d make a T-shirt and see what happened.”

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The first design was simple: a Scarborough map printed where a pocket might sit, stamped with the words “Kid from Scarborough.” He printed just 10 tees, unsure whether he’d sell even one. “Ten minutes later, I had to call back the printer—every single shirt was gone,” Asido says. “I told him I needed a bigger order, this time in the hundreds.”

“People from Scarborough know we’re the underdogs of the city, so we wear that with pride,” he says. What Asido calls his “love letter to Scarborough” eventually grew from just 10 followers to more than 200,000. While the original “Kid from Scarborough” tee remains his bestseller, the line has since expanded to include hoodies, licence plate frames and novelty pins (like “Scarbie” written in the Barbie font).

While his core customer base is in North America, Asido has seen just how far that hometown spirit travels. “I once got a selfie from two people who randomly met in Lisbon, both wearing the map tee. It’s crazy how it brings people together,” he says.

Today, Scarborough Spots has evolved into a full-scale media business, including a private marketing arm and a new podcast highlighting notable Scarberians such as NBA All-Star Jamaal Magloire and foodie extraordinaire Suresh Doss. But, at its core, the brand still runs on sentimentality.

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In 2024, Asido opened his first (and so far only) storefront in Eglinton Square, a mall where he spent much of his childhood. “I considered Scarborough Town Centre because of the foot traffic and its size,” he says. “But Eglinton Square is where my grandparents used to live. I came here all the time with them when I was a kid. They used to take me to the Foot Locker that was in the exact space we took over. For me, it just felt right.”

Design, after all, is about emotion.