Tarr Furniture Company, 318-320 West Lafayette

Tarr Furniture Company, 318-320 West Lafayette Street :front and side facade at intersection of West Lafayette and Hyde Park Avenues. 1927. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

Former Tarr Furniture Store, 320 W Kennedy Blvd. 2020. © Chip Weiner

Moving away from its original store at Tampa Street and Twiggs, Tarr Furniture Company -established in 1907 - opened this six-story $500,000 building in 1927. It had three stories of large show windows presenting vignettes of attractive furniture displays visible to passersby. They were dressed and changed weekly to keep the look fresh. Unique to the store was an informal drawing room where customers could discuss decorating problems with experts. Adjoining that room was an English dining room replete with available dining room sets that served lunch to customers shopping in the store.

In 1940, Seminole Furniture Company purchased the building, and Tarr moved back to Tampa Street to a building formerly occupied by Ernest Maas of the Mass Brothers family. Seminole Furniture ran their business here until the mid-1980s. The adjoining First Baptist Church now owns the building, which is a multi-tenant office building.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved

From Burgert Brothers: Look Again, Vol.2