Outer Layer

Toronto, Canada

4.4

Open now

20 reviews

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 416-869-9889
Website:
www.outerlayer.com
Address:
577 Queen Street W, Toronto, ON, M5V 2B6
Queen Street West
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
510 ftAugusta Avenue
700 ftQueen Street West
0.2 miAdelaide Street West
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Bussiness info

Accepted Cards
Credit, Debit
Parking
Street, Private Lot
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Dogs Allowed
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Toronto) 2:47 PM Thursday, May 22, 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Sunday 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Description

Specialties

We have a great selection of laugh-​out-​loud cards, as well as lots of adorable handcrafted and letterpressed cards from small companies. We also specialize in skin and bath products, with a great selection of soaps and fragrances. Add to the mix books, fridge magnets, t-​shirts, accessories, toys and loads of fun stuff for kids and adults and you have a truly entertaining shopping experience. Poke around, find that unexpected gift, and have it wrapped for free by our friendly staff!

History

Established in 2002.

Outer Layer on Queen Street is now 13 years old! We have seen this area transform quite a bit in those ten years, and we have grown along with it, expanding the range of products we carry. Outer Layer has become the go-​to gift shop in the neighbourhood, as well as a destination for many visitors to Queen Street West, both from Canada and abroad.

Meet the Business Owner

Elana W.

Business Owner

Cat person. Cyclist. Coffee and wine obsessed. Jaded but kind of soft and squishy deep down. Some things about me can be guessed just from looking at the store.

I switched gears from an academic career to open Outer Layer on Queen Street in 2002, and I’ve never looked back. These days I work mostly behind the scenes, which includes everything from travelling to New York for trade shows to mopping up the basement when the sewer on Queen Street backs up (that happens every couple of years).

The real heroes of the store are those amazing women working on the floor keeping the place going day in and day out. The ones who can’t wait to gift wrap your purchases. (I think that may be the thing they like best about the job.) It goes without saying that I couldn’t do it without them.

We love Toronto and we love being on Queen Street West. And we love making your day a little more fancy and a lot more fun.

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Specialty Food

,

Sandwiches

Elana W. says,

«This is where we go when we want a really healthy lunch — except for those days when we break down and have the falafel poutine…»

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Vicinity

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20 reviews of Outer Layer

No registration required
Place rating: 4
London, Canada
This place is great! I wondered in one afternoon, not entirely sure what to expect. It has all kinds of knock knacks and cards. I usually buy my cards at the arts market, but the selection here is fantastic. And the drawings on the chalk board outside always crack me up!
Place rating: 5
London, United Kingdom
A knock-​knack and whatzit store, you can always find something for that friend who has a weird sense of humour (you know the one).
Yes, I do need this feeder shaped like horses head so it looks like a squirrel is a wearing a horse head when it’s looking for food. How did you know?
Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada
My go-​to place for fun and unique gifts! Also has a lot of local goodies showcasing Toronto pride if you’re ever looking for one of a kind souvenirs to give out. I only wish it were closer to where I lived.
Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada
Best card store ever! I love this place. You can lose yourself for hours in here. Lots of fun joke books, magnets, cards and t-​shirts. Just a great part of Queen West.
Place rating: 3
Toronto, Canada
Great spot for lovely fragrances (Tokyomilk, Library of Flowers, Sula, Demeter) and fun accessories. Staff can be a little frosty. Granted, «Should I also get the hand cream [in addition to the perfume]?» is a silly question, which I should have kept deep inside, but only on Queen West would the existential shrug that I got in response be acceptable. I took it for a «no» and left with Tokyomilk Arsenic. Mission accomplished.
Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada
Small store with friendly staff and a variety of cute /​humorous cards. I will definitely be back in the future for more of the cutesy and whimsical cards.
Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada
My go-​to place for cards now that the Chapters on John and Richmond has closed. They’ve got a great variety of cards for all occasions that are better than your typical Hallmark ones. The store is full of knick-​knacks that would make a fun last minute gift idea. But I always feel like I might knock something over while walking through the tight aisles. The staff isn’t the friendliest, but since I’m not asking for any help with anything when I go there, I guess it doesn’t matter too much.
Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada
This store is fabulous! It is my «go-​to» store for cards and gifts for all occasions. Need something that smells yummy? a funny gift for Dads? they’ve got it! need a brains ice-​cube tray for a zombie dinner party? they’ve got it! Great Women that work there helpful and always have a great soundtrack to shop to:)
Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada
One of my favourite stores to browse. Awesome gift ideas and cool kitchen ware/​gadgets. I adore the Fred line and they carry a variety of their stuff. Perfect spot to find a very cool and creative gift.
Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada
After buying one too many lousy Hallmark greeting cards in a last-​minute panic, I now plan ahead and get all my wedding, birthday, shower, and anytime cards from Outer Layer. No longer do I find myself handing over cards with sickeningly flowery sentiments that I likely don’t mean. Outer Layer has an amazing selection of cards that range from simple to sweet to risqué to gut-​bustingly funny.
My only complaint is that with an ever-​changing and delightful collection of oddities, I usually end up leaving with a gift for myself along with my perfectly sentimental (and usually hand-​made) greeting card.
So march yourselves away from the gushy glurge found in the traditional greeting card aisle and in to Outer Layer. You’ll be glad you did.
Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada
I would give it 5 stars, but for the fact that sometimes claustrophobic me gets a little overwhelmed with the small aisles lots of people and hoards of stuff. I become the proverbial Bull in the China Shop.
But if i go when it’s quiet, I can spend forever sniffing the luxurious niche brand fragrances, reading cute greeting cards and trolling though their selection of Lug bags (a.k.a. The best bags ever invented to keep you organized).
Cool magnets… Bought my «You say Tomato, I say Fuck You» one here. ‘Nuff Said.
A great place to go gift shopping for that hard-​to-​buy-​for person.
Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada
This little gem of a store has become my official go-​to-​gift store.
The shelves are loaded with fun and funky items that ooze personality. Admittedly the prices are a little high but the «awesome» factor is worth it. You can almost be sure that no one else will bring a gift to the party that will be as unique as yours if you shop in this store.
The staff is either a bit frosty or a bit shy at first. Either way, they get friendlier as the total gets higher as they are cashing you out (and there’s a good chance it will grow higher than you intended). The main challenge shopping here is actually giving the stuff away as planned, instead of keeping it for yourself.
For the HARD to buy for, the FUN to buy for, or just for yourself, I recommend this store.
Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada
Outer Layer is a one-​stop-​shop for gift giving. You can find all sorts of fun items for any price range. These include: tons of luxe bath and body products, jewellery, reusable bags, pins, umbrellas, notebooks, joke books, baby stuff, kitchen accessories, gag gifts, magnets… this list goes on.
They also have one of the largest selections of greeting cards — funny, sappy, and everything in between. Also, if you are going to a same-​sex wedding, you can find a bunch of nice cards here for the occasion. They usually have some kind of discount if you buy a bunch of cards at once (I think it’s around 10−20% off depending how many you buy).
Whether you are looking for something specific or just browsing, you’re sure to find something you love at Outer Layer!
Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada
Sometimes I go in just to browse.
I know that seems like a really banal comment. But I promise you it is not.
I hate shopping. I hate everything about having to go get new things. I hate buying people presents (because I hate shopping, I love giving things to people). I dislike most stores.
But it’s all painless here:
Every time I need a new wallet or some Burt’s Bees or a quirky apron or a new necklace… they are the birthday card near the post office when I have to mail one TODAY or it won’t get there in time. Things for my little nephews, things for my best friends (both very different)… I could go on and on about all the times I’ve been here and found something wonderful, unique and WELL PRICED.
I’ve even had help sourcing things for my work place from these ladies.
In short, a nice shopping experience in a low pressure (but helpful) environment at a fair price.
They carry a lot of products made by Canadians (cards, jewelry, bath and body).
They are nice people.
Sometimes I go in just to browse.
Place rating: 5
Nashville, TN
This is the best store ever. It’s the fun, unique, quirky gift and toy store in your home-​town, times 1,000. It has all of those items in that store, and tons TONS more.
It was hard to pull myself out of this store. I walked around thinking, «Ooh I love that, ooh I like that, ooh that’s awesome, hahahha!, ooh I love that…» then realized I had been positively affirmed by all that was going on in my head, so I grabbed a shopping basket and loaded up. Calendars, mugs, decorated I.D. cases, jewelry, cards, notecard sets, candles, lotions and perfume, key caps, etcetera etcetera etcetera. Well I didn’t buy all of that, but it was all very tempting.
I thought everything was very moderately priced as well, compared to many other places on Queen St. that seemed exorbitantly expensive. Women as well as men will enjoy spending time in Outer Layer. I just wish there was a location in the outer layers that is the United States… :(
Place rating: 5
Etobicoke, Canada
If you are stuck for ideas and need a last-​minute gift, this is the place to go! They have something gadgety/​knick-​knacky/​quirky or useful for everyone on your shopping list! Tons of bath products, t-​shirts, bags, mugs and travel mugs, books, notepads and stationery, trinkety toys, jewellery, watches, buttons, wallets, etc. etc. etc.
I’ve relied on the Outer Layer for many odd gift-​buying scenarios, and usually the gifts end up being pretty crowd-​pleasing. The «pass it around the table» kind of gifts!
And you can also pick up a card and wrap while you’re there too. Better yet, have them wrap it for you — it’s free!
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
This store is misleading. I’ve walked by it dozens of times and never bothered to venture inside until today, when someone in front of me opened the door and it looked nothing like the outside
The name… makes it sound like a clothing store specializing in winter coats.
The storefront makes it look like a cheap tabacco store. The windows are dusty and crammed with weird stuff.
The inside, however, has cute cards, a big range of expensive lotions, candles and unique gifts. i bought an edgy Tokyomilk body lotion for my friend.
They really should think about doing something with the storefront. I’d never have bothered to walk in if the person walking in front of me didn’t venture in.
Place rating: 4
Markham, Canada
I usually go to the Outer Layer Location in the Annex. which carries identical merchandises as this Queen Street West location.
I enjoy browsing through the jewelleries, natural body products and a lot of things that are neat but you don’t really need…
Great store to get some cute little gifts to surprise your friends or your love ones.
This location is a lot more spacious. A lot more space for me to browse around even with my yoga mat, I do not bump into shelves, things or other customers.
Oh and I did not stalk Karl R or bump into him either!
Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada
I loooooooooove this place. It’s utterly fantastic! I found and bought a bright yellow pin here couple years ago with: «Nosy little fucker, aren’t you?» (teehee~) And it has since entered the repertoire of shops I go to for gifts and unique cards.
I enjoy the variety that they include here and often save up to splurge (the things aren’t cheap! :C).
Place rating: 4
Burlington, Canada
If you ever want to stalk me, here’s a weekend routine. Many times I like to jump on the Queen street car, ride it past that store with the half naked hipster ladies doing a suggestive skiffle dancing in the shop window, ogle them from the street car, and then get off at the stop right after. I make my way BACK, again casually ogling the dancing half naked hipsters. I stop at the condo furniture places along that strip to «get ideas». I forget whatever ideas I got two seconds later and then pop into Outer Layer to see what’s what. It’s just a darn fun store to browse through. Clever tshirts and pins for your backpack or hipster hat. Service is always friendly, once you produce ready money.
I rarely laugh at anything on a tshirt or a gay wedding card but there’s always something here that actually makes me LOL internally.