One of Toronto’s most recognizable storefront facades will soon be no more.

On Tuesday, work crews began dismantling one of the flashy Honest Ed’s signs in downtown Toronto. The 23,000-bulb signs has welcomed discount bargain hunters to the intersection of Bathurst and Bloor Streets for decades.

In total, nine pieces, each weighing more than 600 lbs., are being removed from the façade over two days.

“The actual removal wasn’t a very difficult procedure but it’s just making sure we take the proper care,” Bob Zincone, of Pattison Sign Group, told CTV Toronto. “It’s been up there a long time, there is some weathering in the sign so we wanted to make sure when it came down, there was no extensive damage done to it.”

The iconic Honest Ed’s store closed for good last Dec. 31, after the property was sold to a Vancouver-based developer in 2013. It will be turned into a mixed-use development that will include condominiums.

Officials with Mirvish Productions said once the 30-foot tall by 60-foot-wide sign is removed it will be transported to a warehouse to be refurbished.

David Mirvish, the son of late Honest Ed’s founder Ed Mirvish, is expected to “save” the sign and re-mount it on the exterior of the Ed Mirvish Theatre sometime later this year.

However, the installation must still be approved by Toronto City Council.

David Mirvish was among the crowd of onlookers who came to watch as the sign was dismantled Tuesday. He told CTV Toronto his father would have relished the farewell.

“He’d love it because a lot of old friends are here and people that knew him,” Mirvish said.

Ed Mirvish opened Honest Ed’s in 1948.

With a report by CTV Toronto’s Scott Lightfoot