Eaton's began secretly assembling land at Yonge and College streets in 1910 for a new store.
 The First World War put the company's development plans on hold, but Eaton's retained the land.
 During the 1920s, Eaton's planned to shift all their operations from their existing location at Yonge Street and Queen Street West to the College Street site.
 Eaton's offered to sell part of its landholdings to its main competitor, Simpson's, in an effort to shift the heart of Toronto retailing northward and to preserve the synergy created by having two retail giants next to one another.
They did not succeed, and Simpson's chose instead to expand its Queen Street store.

In 1928, Eaton's announced plans for the largest retail and office complex in the world to be constructed on the site, featuring 5,000,000 square feet (465,000 square metres) of retail space and a 38-storey, 1920s-era skyscraper.
 Just as the war had intervened a decade earlier, however, the Great Depression curtailed their full plans for the site.
The first phase of the project, a department store of 600,000 square feet (56,000 square metres), was the only part of the complex that was built.
But, the planned foundation pillars, 10 feet in diameter, were driven 30 feet down into bedrock during the construction of the first phase to accommodate the planned tower.
On October 30, 1930, the new store was opened by Lady Eaton, the matriarch of the Eaton family, and her son John David Eaton, the future president of the company.

Eaton's College Street, as the store was known, focused on the sale of furnishings and housewares, although the latter were very broadly defined.
Eaton's boasted that the store was "the largest furniture and house furnishings store in the British Empire".
 The larger Eaton's Main Store, a few blocks south on Yonge Street, was never closed, as had been intended in the 1920s plan.
Eaton's ran a shuttle bus between the two stores for two decades until the Toronto subway opened in 1954.
Eaton's began secretly assembling land at Yonge and College streets in 1910 for a new store.  The First World War put the company's development plans on hold, but Eaton's retained the land.  During the 1920s, Eaton's planned to shift all their operations from their existing location at Yonge Street and Queen Street West to the College Street site.  Eaton's offered to sell part of its landholdings to its main competitor, Simpson's, in an effort to shift the heart of Toronto retailing northward and to preserve the synergy created by having two retail giants next to one another. They did not succeed, and Simpson's chose instead to expand its Queen Street store.
In 1928, Eaton's announced plans for the largest retail and office complex in the world to be constructed on the site, featuring 5,000,000 square feet (465,000 square metres) of retail space and a 38-storey, 1920s-era skyscraper.  Just as the war had intervened a decade earlier, however, the Great Depression curtailed their full plans for the site. The first phase of the project, a department store of 600,000 square feet (56,000 square metres), was the only part of the complex that was built. But, the planned foundation pillars, 10 feet in diameter, were driven 30 feet down into bedrock during the construction of the first phase to accommodate the planned tower. On October 30, 1930, the new store was opened by Lady Eaton, the matriarch of the Eaton family, and her son John David Eaton, the future president of the company.
Eaton's College Street, as the store was known, focused on the sale of furnishings and housewares, although the latter were very broadly defined. Eaton's boasted that the store was "the largest furniture and house furnishings store in the British Empire".  The larger Eaton's Main Store, a few blocks south on Yonge Street, was never closed, as had been intended in the 1920s plan. Eaton's ran a shuttle bus between the two stores for two decades until the Toronto subway opened in 1954.
College Park (Toronto)