Shopping in North York

Bean Sprout cultivates the clothes-getting of kinderkind with a colourful inventory featuring boutique items from more than 70 fashion brands for newborns to 16-year-olds. Dress your daughter for her inevitable Picasso phase with Blü attire such as a sunshine-yellow polka-dot dress ($29.99) and leggings ($19.99), or prepare your son for his role as Miranda in an authentic 17th-century staging of Shakespeare's The Tempest with a Deux par Deux pale-pink jersey dress ($47.99). More dude-duds are available in the form of T-shirts ($26.99) and quick-dry plaid shorts ($37.99) from Point Zero. Bean Sprout also sells jewellery, handmade purses, music boxes, toys, and numerous other items for kids' consumption.

Beta, an acronym for "beyond everything tried already," outfits active urbanites in eco-friendly, made-in-Canada apparel that hinges on style and social responsibility. Dudes can snuggle into the bamboo-fiber blend of the Stimulus men's T-shirt ($34.50) or bounce from the beach to the bar with ease in the versatile, eggplant-coloured Cooper polo ($69), made from Chitosante, a fabric that's EPA-certified, antibacterial, and wicks away moisture. Women may wish to wear the weather with the raindrop designs of the Curve longsleeve ($59) or frolic down the foggy corridors of time with the comfy Contour crop pants ($69). Beta also ups the ante on underthings with its line of men's underwear—never again go missing in a crowd of half-naked people with the red Sugar Ray boxer shorts ($28), or feel secure in the sub-equator of your body with Hobbes boxer briefs ($28). There is a limit of one pair of underwear per Groupon.

Since 2009, AceKard.ca has helped customers protect and accessorize Apple products such as iPads, iPods, and iPhones with high-quality cases, sleeves, and watchstraps. The company also guards against wear and tear of gaming gear including the Nintendo DS and Wii, preventing cracked screens from rending the Mushroom Kingdom in half.

The expert framers at Galleria Art & Frame ensconce artwork in custom-made frames, whipping together dust-free glass, acid-free mats, and wood or metal frames. With more than 400 styles to work with, framers can complement diplomas, posters, or first-date phone numbers or provide premade artwork from a prolific gallery of pop art and ornate mirrors. They also stretch canvas, transform photographs into oil paintings, and craft shadow boxes to hold three-dimensional memorabilia.