Kala Kendar

Good prices and customer service. The clothes are well curated and organized well. This is more than what can be said about many of the clothierd along Gerrard. Would highly recommend!

This place is horrid! The worst service you would never wish for. What an a**hole the music guy is, Mickey I think is his name. He kicked people out of the store after they asked about a price, and reacted very mildly to his rip-​off of a price.
I’m shocked that this place is still in business. They have been ripping people off for years and years.
I wish Unilocal had negative stars! This place deserves that and more.

I, too, would like to submit a beyond-​poor rating for this so-​called musical instrument store. They don’t even deserve one star. I ordered an instrument from them two months ago, assured by one of their salesman that it was of the highest quality. When it arrived it was completely unplayable: a classic case of «looks good in the pictures» but when you get it home you discover to your horror that the whole transaction was a bait and switch farce. When I returned it they insisted on charging me a 15% «restocking» fee. When I explained that this was robbery since the instrument sent was not as advertised/​described, they brushed me off and kept my money. Beware: do not buy from this store! They rip people off and don’t know a thing about Indian instruments.

I have to say I don’t think I’ve met a music store (classical instruments) where the people are so arrogant and very negative energy. These instruments are used to create a powerful enlightening vibration by the musician, to have to enter this environment and be subject to this mindset is sickening to say the least. Needless to say I did not buy anything and highly suggest others to find more suitable places to shop and support. Many blessings.

If I could give zero stars, I would. I ordered a Bayan Benares Professional tabla head from them. They sent a head that was literally partially made of plastic. Nowhere on the website was it indicated that I would receive something that was made of plastic, and the picture did not reflect this. Professional quality tabla heads are made of animal hide. I returned the item and was not refunded original shipping or return shipping despite the item not being as described on the website. Beware, the pictures are generic and may not be of items you actually receive. I ended up spending over 100 dollars and only received 40 of it back, and still have no drum head in my possession. I can’t believe they treat customers this way.

I went there for fabric supplies and not for any of their music instruments upstairs. They were recommended by other clothing stores in Toronto’s Little India.
They have a wide range of beautiful coloured silks, mostly 45″ wide, which is a more standard loom size in India (Italian and Chinese tend to have more of the 54 and 60″).
They have a decent selection of trim (fabric or stitched sash like items to tack on fabric).
I found that their silk unraveled much more than from other places, which can be challenging for those who are inexperienced at sewing.
They have cool decorative shoes in the basement and non-​silks downstairs.
The male owner is smooth, but I should have been suspicious when he was «too kind.» I actually quite like their female staff who were personable and were great at answering my questions.
Here’s the catch. I was told the silk fabric bolt was 45″ wide; when I got home it measured only 42″ wide. Okay, it could have shrunk after being heat treated which is how they become shiny looking. So that «might» be understandable.
I asked for 1 meter (39″) of another fabric, but I when I got home it was only 33″— even it they went by yards instead of meters, it should have been 36″. Tisk Tisk. Not acceptable.
I went back again and asked for 1 meter, but they forced me to buy the remaining 1.75 meters on the bolt or they wouldn’t sell it to me. Every other fabric store I’ve been to in Canada and the U.S. has discounted this overage heavily if forced to purchase it. They did not and did not offer a future credit which might have smoothed things over.
I asked for a recommendation for other sewing supplies and they were not helpful. On my second trip, I shared my findings and they basically said «oh yeah, we get catalogues from them all the time.» So they knew of options for somewhere that isn’t even a competitor but were unwilling to share.
I did feel pressured by them to make a purchase then and there. Sort of a bartering mentality.
They are not very helpful at making sewing recommendations. I think they’re used to people buying fabric then taking it to a professional tailor. Not good for home sewer.
Prices are easily a few dollars more per yard for silks compared to most locally available Chinese silks — plus the bolts are 9″ smaller.
Bring your own bags. They will give you a gaudy purple reusable bag that can bleed color and ruin your purchases.
They treated me like a second rate citizen when I was paying the second time and hurried me away to help someone else.
If you HAD to use them, I’d say fine. But bring your own measuring tape and carefully watch them measure it right in front of you. An inch is an inch — except they think an inch is ¾ inch. It was enjoyable while I was shopping, but boy did I feel burned after I left.
Lots of metered parking in a bustling area.

Ok, see the picture? I’m reviewing their textiles – saris, salwar kameez, and kurtas. Not the music instruments.
I had been up and down the street looking for nice quality traditional Indian clothes. I found a couple of K-​mart-​ish stores, and a small boutique with a really nice sales girl, but nothing fit.
My husband had been in here looking for tablas and pulled me in to look at the salwar kameez.
They had lots of racks on sale for 50% off, we were there right after Christmas. I found one after the other of designs and colors that I LIKED! Not to flowerey, not to gaudy, the designs of the salwar kameezes (?) seemed to be a bit on the contemporary side and that was fine with me.
After all, I’m a Chinese girl trying to pull off a traditional Indian suit. Contemporary will probably do better than too old fashioned and fuddy-​duddy looking.
I tried on 3 outfits and brought home 2 that I am very excited to wear as soon as the weather is nice.
We also picked up a nice kurta for my husband. It comes with a white chudidaar (pyjama style pants), I’m not sure if my husband will wear those. We’ll see.