69 Nassau St. 416-603-9477 [see on map] Official site

PAUL'S BOUTIQUE is a vintage musical instrument shop in the heart of Kensington Market.

Owned by a music fan named Paul Babiak, the store buys, sells, trades, rents and consigns unique used guitars, keyboards, amps, effects and recording equipment to musicians from across the city and around the world. Its location in the Market makes Paul's Boutique part of the neighbourhood's rich musical history.

The narrow one-way streets of Kensington are crammed with punk rock squats, folksy coffee - and now cannabis - shops, sweaty recording studios, Caribbean and African CD shops and restos-turned-makeshift rock bars and dance clubs. At venues like Graffiti's, Supermarket, The Boat, and Bread & Circus, the city's performers pump live music into the night air, but during the day they take their gig profits down to Paul's to load up on gear for the next show.