The owner of a Toronto prop rental shop has decided to retire after nearly four decades in the business and is looking for someone who is as passionate about the film and antiques industry as he is to take over his business.
After years of supplying Toronto film and television props — from classroom tables to crystal globes — Fritz Lowe, owner of The Prop Room, says it’s time for him to enter a new phase of life: retirement.
But before he can pull down the curtain, Lowe is looking for a buyer — someone who is independent, familiar with the film industry, or at least highly motivated, to take the business forward. “Ideally, it would help if someone knew a little bit about the film business… but it’s not necessary. What’s more important is that it’s someone who can run it, someone who’s young and motivated.”
Lowe didn’t start out renting props; he started out as an antique shop called Inquisitive Antiques on Bayview Street, collecting items from across Canada and his travels to create a “cabinet of curiosities.” About 44 years ago, a woman walked into the shop and asked, “Do you rent?” When he said no, she replied, “That’s what everyone else does.” So Lowe got into the rental business.
Soon, rental customers came; and, interestingly, he didn’t spend any money on advertising; his reputation spread by word of mouth. What set The Prop Room apart from other Toronto prop shops was its quirky, one-of-a-kind inventory: a three-foot hourglass he found in Italy or a vampire-hunting nail were among his signature items, Lowe says.
His catalog contained about 35,000 items; Like a museum that showcases different eras, including the Middle Ages. “We have a lot of specialty items, which is why movies come to us,” he says.
One of the first TV series he rented was “Anne of Green Gables”: “I had all the school desks in that one, and the bed and the kitchen items.”
Since then, work has been done for productions like “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Suits” and “The Umbrella Academy.” Demand was so high that Lou closed the antique shop and moved to a larger warehouse in East York in 2010.
He says he’s been lucky to have the business for so many years: “It’s not like going into a factory and making parts for 52 weeks… it’s always exciting. How lucky can you be to have a job like that?”
But now it’s time for Lowe to call it quits and hand the business over to someone who will uphold his legacy. There have been interested parties, he says, but they either lack the motivation or the financial resources; and if they don’t find the right person, he plans to sell his vast inventory: “If they don’t want to buy the business, they can take the inventory and start their own business… I’m fine with that.”
The Prop Room is currently scheduled to close on February 1: “I’m lucky to be doing what I love, but I’d like to pass it on to someone else.”

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