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The coming of the railway to Renfrew did much to enhance the prosperity of town merchants and Alex Fraser could hardly have chosen a better time to go into business when he returned to Renfrew in 1891.
The Canada Central Railway arrived in 1872, establishing north-south connections, and from that time on the population of Renfrew began to increase. Two other railways, the Kingston & Pembroke, which reached Renfrew in 1884, and the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound, which provided a link with Eganville in the 1890s, established Renfrew as an important shopping centre for rural citizens.
People from the surrounding townships, many of whom who had previously depended on country stores for all their supplies, could now, for a few pennies, enjoy an outing by train to go to Renfrew where merchandise available was a wider variety of choice and quality. |
Alex Fraser's First Store |
Fraser's Boot and Shoe Store, Renfrew |
An advertisement in the October 16th, 1891 edition of The Renfrew Mercury announced "Good News for the People!" which heralded the opening of Alex Fraser's new enterprise in "M. Fitzmaurice's brick store, next door to McArthur's Tin Shop."
In January of 1892, at the start of his first full year in business, Mr. Fraser suggested that when people were making their New Year resolutions, one of them should be to shop at his store during the coming year. By then his stock had been expanded to include blankets, knitting yarns, table linens, towels, dry goods and "horse covers" from the 1981 start-up inventory of crockery, glassware, groceries, teas and clothing. |
In February of 1897 there was an extensive fire in Renfrew which destroyed many of the stores, including Fraser's. Although much of his stock was saved and there was no insurance on what was lost, he was determined to begin again. After conducting business for some time in temporary quarters he built new premises located where the Toronto Dominion Bank is today, and his new store opened in 1901.
By this time Alex Fraser had given up the idea of running a general store, preferring instead to concentrate on clothing and footwear and by 1920, Fraser's was a well established, superior clothing store.
Since then Fraser's Clothes shops has continued to grow to serve the diverse needs of men and women in the Upper Ottawa Valley with the first satellite store opening in Shawville, Quebec (in which area Alex had first worked), in 1941 and in 2000 a fourth branch store in Bancroft. |
Milestones
1891 |
Alex Fraser opens a general store in Renfrew, late in October |
1949 |
Renfrew's Murphy Block is purchased by Leslie Fraser. |
1897 |
The store is destroyed by fire. |
1952 |
The store is expanded to reach a size of 5,000 square feet. |
| 1901 |
A new store is built. It sells clothing, shoes and furs. |
1961 |
A branch store is opened at Deep River. |
| 1910 |
The shoe store is sold to J.M. Ferguson |
1964 |
Another store is opened in Pembroke. |
| 1915 |
Leslie J. Fraser, son of Alex, joins the firm. |
1974 |
An extension to the Renfrew store brings it to a size of 8,000 square feet. |
| 1920 |
Alex Fraser buys the former Mackay Bros. store and the firm moves into half of the building. |
1979 |
Doug Fraser, son of Donald, joins the firm. |
| 1935 |
Les Fraser becomes sole owner of the firm following the death of his father. |
1992 |
The firm of Fraser's Clothes Shops celebrated 100 years in business and begins its second century of service to the consumers of the Ottawa Valley. |
| 1941 |
A branch store is opened at Shawville. |
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| 1947 |
Donald Fraser, son of Leslie, enters the business. |
2000 |
New store opened in Bancroft. |
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