shopping 1

Cambridge must be the place old shoppers go to die.

Two-hundred and eighteen thousand souls live in this town -- the 1960s amalgamation of the old communities of Hespeler, Galt and Preston -- just an hour or so west of Toronto on the 401. The minute you leave the highway, it's one big box store after another, peppered with fast-serve and family-style -- cheap and cheerful -- restaurants.

I go to Cambridge for its discount outlet "mall". But it is the apparently-never-ending street of chain stores that amazes. Every chain store you've ever heard of, and many you haven't, line the main drag. Who buys all this stuff?

Unlike most other discount malls, the Southworks Outlet Mall -- "downtown" from Big Box Alley -- is housed in bits of 150-year-old stone buildings along the Grand River, giving it more charm and atmosphere than most. I go for the deals on sheets and towels, shoes and other bits and bobs -- I bought 18 pairs of socks -- but also for the excuse to drive out of Toronto and have a picnic in Mill Race Park.

If you go, download coupons.