94 King Street East
CURRENT STATUS (1999) 
Present Owner: Kelloryn Hotels Inc.
Present Use: Royal Connaught Howard Johnson
Plaza Hotel
Heritage Status: Listed on the City's Inventory of
Buildings of Architectural and / or Historical Interest, and included on LACAC's list
of Landmark Buildings in the Downtown Core
Locally Significant Date: N/A
BUILDING INFORMATION
Date Built: 1914-1916; annex 1930-31
Original Owner: Hamilton Hotel Company Ltd.
Original Use: Hotel, retail stores, offices
Subsequent Uses: Same
Previous Building on Site: Five-storey
building erected in 1856 as the Anglo-American Hotel and demolished in 1914; five-storey
building erected in the 1880s for W.E. Sanford Manufacturing
Company and demolished for construction annex
ARCHITECTURE
Size: 12-storeys
Design and Style: Edwardian Classic
Architect, Builder: Original hotel:
Eisenwein & Johnson, W.A. Peene (architect); Stone & Webster Construction Co.;
annex: Hutton & Souter (architects), Pigott
Construction Co.
Construction Materials: Cladding of
original materials: tapestry brick, Bedford limestone, architectural terra cotta; cladding
of annex: stone
Architectural Integrity: Good (only minor alterations to both building at street level, including
replacement of cast-iron marquise of 1916 building
Architectural Features: N/A
Raphael Mack & Co. started business in 1903 and was familiar to many by two names:
Raphael-Mack & Co. and Mack & Co. Ltd. In 1915, the company renamed itself
Raphael-Mack & Co. and was located at 62-64 James Street 
North.
The store was remodelled in 1919, and the company opened stores in London, St.
Catharines, and Kitchener. The Hamilton store on James Street was reported in the
Spectator as being the only one of its kind in the city. It "presents a most imposing
display of shining glass, polished metal, and soft coloured tiles to the passerby"
(Spectator, August 29, 1919).
Throughout the history of the store, the owners travelled throughout North America to
purchase clothes, while hired fashion agents did purchasing in European centres. Customers
therefore had a wide selection of bridal clothes, mink-trimmed dresses and coats, leather
goods, eveningwear, and cocktail dresses, from which to choose. The merchandise was in the
moderate to high price range. The staff catered "to the woman who demands the best
within reasonable cost" (Spectator, March 1, 1977).
In 1968, Raphael-Mack fashions opened a store in Burlington Mall. In 1973, the store
moved from their location in the Royal Connaught Hotel, to George Street in Hess Village.
In 1990, Joyce Mongeon, then owner of the chain, announced that the Hamilton store,
located in the Sheraton Hotel attached to Jackson Square was closing due to a loss of
money. The closure was blamed on an economic downturn, an over supply of clothing
retailers and a trend for growing numbers of consumers to shop in the United States. In
addition, the Hamilton mall location proved poor for business since the "kinds of
ladies who like shopping at Raphael-Mack don’t like shopping malls" (Spectator
August 29, 1990). The store in Burlington continued operations.
