Tallahassee's Oldest Retail Shop to Close..After 101 Years

After 101 years as a continuously operating business, Deeb's Hats in Tallahassee is closing...AFTER Mother's Day.

Deeb's was started in 1905 as the E.B. Deeb Department store by Elias and Emmalene Deeb. When they retired, they turned the store over to their son, William, and daughter, Annelle Deeb Humphreys. The siblings moved the store to its current location on East College Avenue in 1966, at which time it was downsized to a women's hat store.

Humphrey's health forced her retirement and William Deeb has run the store alone for the past few years.

Now, the building has been sold to the next-door tenant, a restaurant, which plans to expand into Deeb's with an expanded dining room and kitchen.

Now, I can't say a women's hat store is my cup of tea. However, I did visit the shop with my mother and sister (and maybe my niece, I don't remember) and found the shop to be..well, quaint. Laid-back atmosphere..no pressure. Mirrors in abundance. My sister, who is now working to enter the fashion design business, had a blast trying on hats and checking things out.

I hate to see it close, mainly because you just don't find businesses like Deeb's here anymore..no matter what the merchandise is.

The closing leaves the Tallahassee Democrat, the local newspaper now owned by Gannett, as the oldest continuously operating business.