This ongoing series from Deb Exel at the Barrie Historical Archive shows old photos from the collection and one from the present day.
99 Dunlop Street East
The building standing at 99 Dunlop St. E. didn’t always have that civic address.
Until about 1950 or perhaps a little earlier, the street number was 101 Dunlop St.
Smith Kain Harness Dealers were the occupants of this structure until Harris Flowers moved in during the 1930s.
E.A. Harris got into the flower business after purchasing the Vair greenhouse about 1918.
Mr. Harris’s first shop, at 47 Dunlop Street, was quickly outgrown and the store was moved west to the theatre block on Elizabeth Street, which is now Dunlop Street West.
About 1936, Mr. Harris moved his flower shop one more time, and east again, to 101 (99) Dunlop St.
Following 20 years of operation in this location, and almost 15 years after the death of Ernest Harris, the family renovated the store in 1957 and gave it a modern new look.
Although the family reportedly sold the business in 1966, the shop known as Harris Flowers remained in this location until the late 1980s.
Since then, the Canadian Cancer Society, businesses such as Metzger’s Fine Jewelry, Femme Fatale and currently Social 705 Beauty Bar, have occupied the former flower shop.
