KAWARTHA LAKES-Thomas and William L. Robson emigrated from Stockton-on-Tees, a market town with an iron foundry in Durham, England. Thomas was an iron founder and when they moved to Fenelon Falls, the brothers partnered to operate the Cameron Lake Foundry (at the present site of Garnet Graham Beach Park), where they made agricultural implements. In a farming community eager to find less laborious ways of living off the fruits of their own labour, it was an important business. Before long the Robson family became leaders in the community, W.L. served as treasurer for the village of Fenelon Falls, while Thomas Robson was a councillor.
Though William and Thomas were business partners, in practice it seemed that they each focused on their own part of the venture. William L. Robson, opened a general store on Colborne Street around 1873. It was one of nine main street shops that burned in March 1876, then burned again in March 1877. The foundry burned in 1893, and was not rebuilt—fire was a very serious problem in the late nineteenth century. However, Thomas Robson operated a shop on Colborne Street selling implements that were built elsewhere. The farm implement business would pass to a nephew, William Thomas Robson, who grew up in Somerville Township, and ultimately to Monty Robson, who was a much-loved Fenelon Falls personality in the late 20th century.
As a youngster William’s daughter, Ethel Robson, worked at the general store. One day, a thirteen-year-old boy, Fred Warren came looking for a job. His father (blacksmith W.B. Warren) had died and he needed to help support his younger brother and sister—John Alexander and Alice—“there was no welfare in those days.” As Fred and Ethel worked together, they became friends, and it was then very common to marry a neighbour or someone from your family’s own social circle. They were the first couple married in the new Presbyterian Church, then pooled their resources so they could set up a store of their own near W.L. Robson’s on Colborne Street. Going into business was an expensive proposition, even just to fill a store with inventory. Without Ethel’s help, Fred likely could not have afforded it on his own. She also inherited her family’s beautiful home, on the northwest corner of Clifton and Bond Streets.
In the early days, Fred and Ethel’s store was like many of the other general stores on the main street. It was a long and narrow building, with both walls covered with merchandise, and a row of food barrels and dark hardwood display cases on the north side. In keeping with period fashions, a row of framed artwork graced the top of the wall on both sides. As would be expected, everything was very neatly arranged throughout the store.
Doug Warren later recalled: “When we began work in the store, my Dad pointed out three main business considerations. We do not have anything for sale that others cannot provide. We must sell goods at a reasonable profit to stay in business. We can however, make our store one of the most pleasant in the village in which to shop.” A framed motto hung in the Warren’s Store: “Always tell the truth and you don’t have to remember anything.”
In the early twentieth century, being a store keeper was often seen as a respectable profession. It was one of the few careers in the community that did not involve strenuous manual labour. But to survive in business was by no means easy. There were many stores selling similar goods, and befriending potential customers could make or break a shop. By modern standards, they often kept a large amount of stock for its sales velocity, and it was a constant chore to keep everything looking as neat and new as possible.
When the business opened in 1912 it operated as a general store, like many other main street businesses. But as the decades passed, the products they sold gradually changed, as fewer customers came to purchase canned food and dry goods. By the time Mary (Warren) sold the business in 1964, Fenelon Falls had an IGA supermarket on the opposite side of Colborne Street and Warren’s had become a variety store. Pat remembers visiting her grandfather’s store to pick out Easter goodies. “After my grandfather died, my brothers loved looking at the comic books at the back. It truly was a variety store, selling a great variety of different things.”
Fred and Ethel loved being part of the Fenelon Falls community. Ethel was a devoted member of the local Women’s Institute, and helped with their many community betterment projects. Though he had no formal training, Fred was an excellent artist and writer. He gave many pieces of art to his friends and neighbours. They lived with their daughter, Mary, who worked alongside Fred and would take over the business when he died.
Fred was also Fenelon Falls’ Santa Claus. Mimi Vickers recalled, “My grandfather Wilf Havery heard my cousins tell the rest of us there was no such as thing as Santa Claus, so he arranged with the telephone operator Blanche that when he picked up the phone and asked for the North Pole, she would connect to Fred Warren’s house…made a believer out of my cousin and we all talked to ‘Santa.’ She also said that every person my cousin named who could be on the phone walked into the room to prove him wrong. I found out who Santa was when I was a grown woman …the good ole days.” Fred served as Santa even when his own children were young. When his son Don sat on his knee, he remarked, “Gee Santa, you look like my dad,” so Santa replied “it’s a wise child who knows his father on a night as this.”
Once Fred passed, Mary was on her own, and she was swept off her feet by a man that her family was not so sure about. The relationship did not prove healthy or prosperous, and before long the business had to be sold to Ed Taylor, who continued to operate it as a variety store. Soon after, the community was shocked to learn that Mary had died.
Ed Taylor was a Stedman’s Associate Dealer, and once it sold to Pat Durr in 1976, the store was rechristened as Stedmans. In 1991, Utsav and Sunita Bhatt rebranded it as Pick N’ Save. Eighteen years later, Randy Meredith transformed it into Grr8 Finds. For over a century it has been a retail store, “and it hasn’t changed much since it was Warren’s Store.” Though it sold second-hand goods, Randy tried to keep the feeling of an old main street store, including a section devoted to old fashioned candy. After Randy Meredith passed away, Pauline Petersen has continued to operate the store as a multi-vendor market.
This story is a memory and nobody’s memory is perfect. Sometimes details get a little mixed up, things get forgotten or overlooked, and the perspective is inevitably subjective. If you notice something that not right, have something you would like to tell us, or a memory to share the museum would be happy to hear from you: [email protected]
This story is part of our partnership with Maryboro Lodge, The Fenelon Falls Museum and was written by glenn Walker. .
If you want to make a donation to the museum, you can e-transfer to: [email protected] or mail a cheque to :
Maryboro Lodge Museum
Box 179
50 Oak Street
Fenelon Falls, ON
K0M 1N0
