Mashti Melon is not just a smoothie place, but a wellness shop as well. “From colds to hangovers, we have different kinds of smoothies to help,” says owner Mohammad Ali Hor. They offer vegetable and fruit smoothies as well as ice cream flavours such as mashti, an Iranian ice cream made with saffron and pistachio (5 Northtown Way, 416-733-0048). 

For Zina Sharma, one of the perks of opening up new eatery Peacock Express is the opportunity to serve Indian food to a multicultural community. “Once they’re introduced to Indian food, they love it,” she says. “It’s very encouraging.” The fast-food place serves all the classic Indian dishes, such as butter chicken and mattar paneer (5423 Yonge St., 416-628-3490).

Over the past 25 years, Flory Croitoru has seen skin care treatment in Canada improve. “People are a lot more aware of how to take care of their skin,” says Croitoru, who opened Flory Skin Care Salon after moving from Romania. She says the biggest misconception today is people don’t realize how stress and diet can affect the skin (3359 Yonge St., 416-488-3223).

Owner Renée Ackermann decided to transform Yorkdale Mall’s the Earring Gallery into a Pandora Jewellery concept store as the line grew in popularity. Now open, it has a focus on personalized pieces you can build yourself, such as beaded bracelets. “It’s a full jewellery store with everything to offer under the name Pandora,” she said (1 Yorkdale Rd., 416-783-1292).

Fresh from Vancouver, new chain Freshslice Pizza is set to take over Toronto with one of its first locations opening up on Yonge Street (5223 Yonge St., 647-346-8931).