Beginning in the late 80s Ed Mirvish hung a sign on his store every Christmas that read, "You've got a date with a turkey," and gave away more than 1,000 frozen turkeys to the needy and shipped enough food to a Salvation Army shelter to give another 2,000 people a turkey dinner.

On july 11, 2007, he passed away at 92. He was a brilliant marketer, a canny businessman, a workaholic and a retail visionary. "Honest Ed" invented the disocurnt store in Canada, bought and built theatres and brought blockbuster theatrical prductions to Toronto.