Kelly’s Fresh Mart (formerly Sweets)
This building was erected for George Cheetham about 1895 and was owned for a time by Samuel Gorsline, a tailor. With the establishment of mail-order catalogues such as Eaton’s and Simpson’s, the local clothing makers could not compete with the cheaper clothing these companies could offer.
In 1902 the building was purchased by Edwin Putnam who made part of the ground floor into a grocery store and bakery. In the early 1930’s he and his wife, the former Bertha Sweet, turned part of the lower level into an ice cream parlour. Ray and Zella Sweet purchased the business in 1938 and continued with the grocery store and ice cream parlour. There was an ice house behind the store and every day ice cream was made. A fire in 1939 destroyed the store and several other buildings in the immediate area.
They rebuilt the store and developed a grocery business. They also added a Locker Plant where those in the village who did not have a freezer at home could rent space to keep their frozen items such as meat and fish. Ray and Zella and two of their children, Joan and Betty, lived in a tent in the back yard while the store was being rebuilt. Their son and daughter-in-law, Ralph and Helen, bought the business in 1946 and the store grew and expanded with more floor space, and when their daughter, Peggy, took over running the business there was a further expansion.
It was sold out of the Sweet family in 2005 and continues to be a busy and well run operation. This is the longest continuously operating business in the village.
