Should stores have public washrooms in them?

The city of Toronto, Ontario is considering a city ordinance that states that every store in Toronto with a floor area of 3,230 square feet or more should have to provide washrooms for their customers, according to the city's licensing and standards committee.

The proposal, which now goes on to city council for further debate, is the brainchild of Councilor Howard Moscoe, who said he got a complaint from a constituent who was denied access to a department store washroom. Moscoe argued that his proposal will simply open existing washrooms to the public. To avoid burdening mom-and-pop stores, he proposed exempting stores less than 3,230 square feet – about one-third the size of a typical Shoppers Drug Mart. Stores larger than 3,230 square feet are already required to provide separate men's and women's washrooms although not necessarily for the public. Moscoe couldn't say how many businesses will have to open their washrooms to the public if the new rules are passed.

But business owners and some councilors have said that the city is going too far.

"We're clobbering people every which way in Toronto," complained Councilor Mike Del Grande who said the move will force some store owners into expensive remodeling.

Gary Sands, who represents independent grocers and chain drug stores, said that won't solve many problems for retailers. He added that washrooms are often located in publicly inaccessible areas, such as storerooms. And food retailers usually have their washrooms adjacent to food preparation areas, which by law cannot be accessible to the public. That would force food stores to construct new washrooms for customers.

He is right on that point. This measure, if adopted by the city, would add an additional cost to operate a business in Toronto. However, I think he is quite wrong when he said that it would potentially make a retailer think twice about expanding or opening a business in Toronto. It would be pretty stupid for a retailer who is thinking of building a store that is at least 3,230 square feet in size to not bother to open a store in Toronto because of the cost of building a public washroom in it. The cost of installing a public washroom in his or her store would be paid for well into the store’s second month of operation.

Sands also suggested that the city should come up with some research to show that people actually want store public washrooms, before it imposes new costs on businesses. Moscoe brushed that off for the obvious reason. A study isn’t necessary since it is quite obvious that people need to go to the toilet on occasion, even when they are shopping.

It was suggested that stores with washrooms in areas near storage areas will need washroom monitors to make sure people using their toilets aren't helping themselves to merchandise as well. I can appreciate that kind of concern; however, that concern could be alleviated if there was a closed-circuit camera installed in the area and a sign that can be seen by the customer that clearly states that the area is under surveillance by a closed-circuit camera.

Judith Andrew of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said she's heard no public groundswell demanding washrooms. She added, "It's another cost and imposition with very little notice," she said after the meeting. Store owners are usually helpful if someone suddenly needs a washroom, she said: "People are understanding. People are people, and you don't have to write everything into law."

She is wrong. I represented a man in court who sued a mall because there was no public washroom in it. When he tried to use the toilets in several of the mall’s stores, they turned him down. The mall’s restaurant said he could use the washroom if he bought a meal at the restaurant.

When I was visiting Milan, Italy, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the public was free to use the washrooms in restaurants even if they didn’t buy a meal in it and on top of that, if you wanted a free glass of water, they would provide that for you also.

In 1976, I took my family with me to buy groceries at a large grocery store that was a few blocks from our home. When we filled the buggy with groceries and placed them on the checkout counter, my four year-old daughter began crying, say that she needed to pee. I asked the girl at the counter if she could tell me where the washroom was. She said that it was strictly used only by the staff. I asked for the manager. He confirmed what the girl said. I asked if he could make an exception as my daughter really had to pee. He replied, “Before you bring her to the store, make sure she does it before you leave the house.” I left the groceries on the counter without paying for them and remarked as we were walking out of the store, “You will never see us again.” For the next seventeen years that we lived in that area, we bought approximately $45 thousand dollars worth of groceries from his competitor.

It seems to me that if a store owner wants to really piss off a customer, they should make that same asinine statement that the manager of the grocery store did. The advantage that a store owner who has a public washroom in it is that people coming in off the street to use it, may later wander around the store to see if there is something they can buy. Those owners and/or managers who tell the persons coming in off the street to use their washrooms, that they can’t use them; are most unlikely to ever see those persons again unless their stores are the only stores of their kind in the city.