He opened Honest Ed?s discount emporium in Toronto in 1948 with his wife?s multimillion-dollar insurance policy. Over the last 40 years, the store has grown from 200 square feet to just over 16,000 square feet and has become an iconic architectural fixture of Toronto.

Mirvish was known for his self-deprecating humour ? both directed at himself and his store ? which also played a role in his marketing strategy. On several occasions, he?s declared that the floors of Honest Ed?s were purposely crooked in order to make the store look cheap.

(Image ganked from Supa Pedro's Flickr stream)