New Dundee Emporium still offers a sense of comfort and welcome after nearly 140 years

The New Dundee Emporium’s current owners, Mark Harrison and chef Danny Duchesne, offer high tea on Fridays, Saturdays and  Sundays and have made the right side of the building into a fashion boutique offering everything from clothing and handbags to sun hats. Amanda Nelson photo

By Amanda Nelson

Kavelman’s Store, now known as the New Dundee Emporium, is located at 169 Front St. in New Dundee and was built in 1887, with a rear addition completed in 1888.

Entrepreneur Mark Harrison and chef Danny Duchesne purchased the building in 2003 and brought the neglected building and business back to life again. The pair offer high tea on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and adjacent to the restaurant, they have a boutique that sells clothing, jewelry, housewares, purses and shoes.

In 1985, the building was designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act for its architectural and historical significance. The act requires municipalities to maintain a municipal heritage register of properties with cultural heritage value or interest. The register helps the township and property owners identify heritage value and determine how properties can contribute to community heritage planning objectives.

The building was originally constructed by Gottlieb Bettschen, a prominent early resident of New Dundee and the son of the township’s first reeve, Jacob Bettschen. In addition to being an early property owner, Bettschen was the first vintner to introduce Concord and Delaware grapes to the area and was also the organizer of the Farmers’ Institute of South Waterloo and the New Dundee Library Association.

In 1886, Bettschen purchased several lots on Front Street but found the roads too narrow and altered his architectural plans to set the storefronts back 12 feet. This included the block designed for what would become the Emporium.

The block was named the Jubilee Block to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s reign. Some of the materials used to construct the Jubilee Block came from a demolished schoolhouse in Pinehill.

Though Bettschen owned the building, he never operated any of the stores. Instead, he leased the spaces to a number of merchants, beginning with J.U. Clemens, a merchant in both New Dundee and Kitchener.

Bettschen later leased the property to Jacob Kavelman, one of the town’s best-known residents, who eventually purchased the building in 1915 and operated the store until 1974.

Kavelman was said to have been born in Penzlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, and immigrated to Canada around 1883. He began working in the store in 1899 as an apprentice, earning $30 a year plus room and board. In 1910, he took over store operations and later purchased the building.

Kavelman was not only a business owner but also the town’s fire chief and librarian, with the library located in the back of the store. He was also a member of the Musical Society Band. In 1921, he converted the upper level of the building into an apartment.

Under Kavelman’s stewardship, the store became a central part of village life. It operated as a general store, selling groceries, dry goods and hardware, and also repaired clocks. It was also a social hub, where residents gathered around the stove in the dry goods section to catch up on local news. The store remained a cornerstone of New Dundee for more than 60 years, making it one of the longest-running general stores in the area.

The building still offers a sense of comfort and welcome as you walk through the doors today, much as it would have felt in the late 1800s.