An Ontario Baker Has Bought An Entire Mall To Make Sure A Strip Club Can't Open There

An Ontario man is making sure that a strip club will never be able to open next to his bakery again, by buying the entire Dundas plaza. Sick and tired of “the problems associated with that kind of neighbour,” Roy O’Connor says he has big plans for the vacant plaza in London, and none of them involve naked women!

Roy O’Connor has been involved in a lengthy battle over the location of the strip club in the Dundas Street plaza for decades, with the bakery owner believing that people may not have shopped in his deli due to its proximity to the adult entertainment venue, formerly known as “Famous Flesh Gordon’s.” Now, O’Connor has decided to take back control of his community by buying up the whole mall that his bakery is situated in so that he has a say in which businesses join him on the Dundas Street plaza.

After the ‘Famous Flash Gordon’s’ closed down, a body rub parlor called 'Mirage' was opened, and subsequently closed. Then, the vacant lot was again proposed as the location for a new “adult live entertainment” business. However, Roy O’Connor put his foot down.

The owner of the successful bakery business, ‘Lynn’s Bakery and Deli,’ decided he would purchase the entire plaza on 2190 Dundas Street, in what he told Narcity was "not a difficult decision for us to buy the building when it became available, it was the only way we could have control of what type of neighbors we would have in our neighborhood for years to come."

O’Connor explained that he bought the entire lot to ensure he would never again have to deal with a new strip club business opening close to his bakery. “Everyone is really excited,” he said, adding that it will be a relief not to have to deal with being in close proximity to a strip club anymore.

He confirmed to Narcity that "the community is overjoyed with the news and looking forward to the changes in the near future."

While O’Connor explained that he believes everyone has the right to make money as they choose, he noted that being neighbours with that type of business has a number of problems associated with it. For that reason, he is keen to go in a different direction with the vacant lots in the plaza. Lynn’s owner is now looking for new tenants at the plaza, not just for the former strip club but also for a number of units beside his bakery.

When renovations and construction are complete, O’Connor hopes to return the strip-club location to a restaurant, as it was when Lynn’s Bakery opened in 1980. However, he told Narcity, "East London has become an upbeat flourishing part of our city and we are entertaining any tenant that that can contribute to the same."

As Lynne’s bakery prepares to celebrate 40 successful years in business at the Dundas Street plaza, O’Connor is looking forward to a fruitful future for his family business. He told Global News, “My son is going to succeed me in this business, and I know he wants a great location to operate out of, and this is one of the ways that I could change that, and that’s been one of the biggest factors.”

O’Connor added that the change will make the London neighbourhood a better place, explaining, “I want something positive for our neighbours, I want something positive for the bakery and I want something that our clientele will embrace.”