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Photo by Tyler Anderson / National Post

But aside from the community’s omnivores, who obviously aren’t pleased with the branding, Vegandale’s expansion has found opponents in the camp it thought it’d be sure to please — the vegan one.

“As a person who is vegan and has chosen to have a plant-based lifestyle for the past 18 years, I don’t find myself reflected in an abrasive morally superior Vegandale,” said Stacey Norton, who’s lived in and around Parkdale for 11 years.

Norton isn’t supporting Vegandale because of what she calls “repulsive” marketing decisions behind the series of restaurants and shops. Dubbing 5700 Inc.’s businesses Vegandale could’ve happened organically, she said, but instead the moniker was pushed onto people. And the advertisements and slogans associated with it aren’t helping.

Instead of engaging non-vegans in open conversation, Norton said, the advertisements may result in omnivores being driven away with reinforced stereotypes about vegans being aggressively self-righteous.

“Vegandale is that one person at a party speaking at you, not with you,” Norton said. “It’s the mansplainer of Queen (Street) West.”

The backlash from community members like Norton hasn’t swayed 5700 Inc. owner Hellenic Vincent de Paul, who describes himself as a “vegan extremist.” He said his Vegandale businesses are inclusive — so much so that, according to his surveys, a majority of his customers aren’t living plant-based lifestyles.

His company doesn’t want Vegandale to replace Parkdale, he said, but the concerns the community is voicing about his brand won’t stop his expansion plans either. He never would’ve been able to expand, he said, if not for their support of his businesses.