Robert Barron Building – Built in 1889 & Designed by G.W. Gouinlock

The Robert Barron Building, today home to Shoppers Drug Mart, is located at 728 Yonge St (at Charles St W on the southwest corner) in the Bay Cloverhill neighbourhood of Toronto.

Barron Groceries

Built in 1889 for Scottish-born grocer Robert Barron, architect G.W. Gouinlock designed the three-storey red brick building. When it was constructed, the building was worth an estimated $7,000. Mr. Barron continued to purchase properties near his original building. One was the property just south at 726 Yonge St, which became his fish store.

The Architecture of the Robert Barron Building

Some of the heritage attributes include:

• The round-arched design, along with the complex brick detailing, is influenced by Romanesque Revival architecture.
• The cast-iron columns on the storefront.
• On the building’s northeast corner, there’s an angled edge and an oriel window with a rounded-arch opening on the second floor and a single window with a blind arch and decorative brickwork on the third floor.
• On the third floor of the Yonge St side, there are two sets of three flat-head windows, each with blind arches and ornamental brickwork.
• The building is topped with an ornate parapet.

The Stable Complex

Mr. Barron also bought 81 St Nicholas St, which is located behind the grocery store. In 1895 and 1911, he again hired G.W. Gouinlock to design the store’s stable complex. Classical in style, the two-storey stable building is clad with red brick and features metal, brick and stone trim. Along the top of the west facade, there’s a yellow brick diamond-and-cross pattern. Another architectural relic of that time is a piece of wood from the former pulley system over the hayloft door.

Mr. Gouinlock was the architect behind some beautiful heritage buildings at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds, including the Horticulture Building and the Ontario Government Building. He also designed the North Wing of the Legislative Building at Queen’s Park.

After Robert Barron passed away in 1912, his son George and other family members continued to run the grocery store until 1930. At that time, they leased the property at 728 Yonge St. to Dominion Stores Limited, and it became a Dominion Food Market until the early 1940s.

Coles Books

By 1943, the building became home to the Book Market, a second-hand bookshop run by Carl Cole. He had established the business as a book exchange in 1934 near the University of Toronto to help fund his education. In 1947, Carl purchased the building, and along with his brother Jack, they operated the bookshop that would later evolve into Coles. By 1971, the bookstore chain had expanded to over 55 locations across Canada. In 1978, the company was sold to Southam Press. Coles bookstore remained at this location until the mid-1990s.

The Robert Barron Building Today

The Robert Barron Building received heritage designation from the city in 1974. In 1997, Shoppers Drug Mart opened in the building’s storefront. In 2015, the store temporarily closed this location so the building could undergo significant updates.

During the renovation, the building’s historic north- and east-facing façades were preserved, while the interior was gutted and replaced with a new mass-timber structure. Collaborating with Brook McIlroy Architects and Blackwell Engineering, heritage conservation firm ERA Architects worked to restore the lost heritage elements of the façades, using archive photographs as references. Some of the restored features included red brick masonry, tall storefront windows, ornate cast-iron columns, an extended parapet, and a pressed-metal cornice.

The renovation was completed in 2019, and Shoppers Drug Mart’s flagship downtown store reopened in the beautifully updated building in December of that year.

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Robert Barron Building Photos

SOURCE

• City of Toronto Heritage Register: 728 Yonge St
• City of Toronto Heritage Register: 81 St Nicholas St
• City of Toronto Heritage Property Research and Evaluation Report #78922 (March 2015): 720 Yonge St
• Ontario Heritage Trust: 728 Yonge St
• Ontario Heritage Trust: 81 St Nicholas St
• The Globe Newspaper Archives: Jun 6, 1930, pg 6
• The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Feb 18, 1943, pg 21
• The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Dec 15, 1994, pg A20
• ERA Architects: Yonge and Charles (Shoppers Drug Mart)
• Street Photo: Yonge St and Charles St W from Google Maps
• Photos: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
• Vintage Photos: City of Toronto Archives & Peter MacCallum