Located on the corner of Devon Street West and Currie Street. A permit was issued for the construction of "Shops and Offices for Messrs Sole Bros" on 15 May 1928.
The name F.E. Gooder (Wellington) appears on plans (undated) for the building held at Puke Ariki (ARC2006-59). However, the architects Messenger, Griffiths & Taylor called for tenders in April 1928 for a building "in concrete" for Sole Bros. on the corner of Currie Street and Devon Street. It's possible that the local firm supervised the construction on behalf of Gooder.
An early tenant of the main corner shop was Bamforths (fruiterer), H.W.Frost (dentist) also leased rooms, and for many years there was a billiard saloon on the first floor.
Mr Jimmy Joe bought Bamforths in 1947 and the renamed XYZ fruit and vegetable shop operated from the corner site for nearly 30 years.
The Taranaki Butchery, run by Harold Tuson, operated from the building from the mid 1950s until its closure in 1976.
Related items:
Storehouse Reserve Section 5, Taranaki Land Deed Index I1 Page 305. (Archives New Zealand)
Taranaki DP505 Sheet 1 (1892), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
Taranaki DP873 Sheet 1 (1895), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
Sole Bros Building, New Plymouth District Council CBD Heritage Study, Chris Cochran (1995).
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