About Us

Harris in Wonderland has a history that you probably are unaware of even if you are already familiar with the company. The story of Harris in Wonderland begins in the 1940’s, when the original store was started by Seth Harris as an offshoot of his favorite past time of keeping and breeding fish. Seth ran a little business out of the house for a short time until he was able to rent a small store on New Britain Avenue in West Hartford, CT. The store developed and expanded and it was run with the help of family members while Seth continued his education in Biology at the University of Connecticut.

The original store closed when Seth entered the military and then went on to a 31 year teaching career at Granby Memorial High School.

Harris in Wonderland was re-opened in October 1999 in a cramped 400 square foot space adjacent to a bar in Bloomfield, CT. We outgrew that space within the year and tiring of smelling smoke from the bar (it was legal to smoke inside then), moved to an 1800 square foot free-standing building right next door. We operated in Bloomfield for 6 years and decided a better location was a must for us to expand the areas of the store that we wanted to. A plan to move the store to Avon began to take shape.

The Current Harris in Wonderland
Today, the store has a physical location at 41 East Main Street (route 44) Avon, Connecticut. Marine life has been expanded to occupy a room all to itself at the Avon store. Harris in Wonderland is your best source for freshwater and marine fish, corals and invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals (birds can be ordered, but we no longer carry them in the store). Returning to our strengths as a fish and reptile specialty shop, the store has expanded supplies for reptiles, amphibians, fish, and ponds. We now do pond installations and will build a pond on site, stock it with fish and plants, and help you with questions and even maintenance as well. Our recent expansion into on-line sales allows us to reach you across the country. So enjoy the site and let us know how we may help you.

Meet The Staff

Seth Harris The founder of the original Harris in Wonderland, Seth has a background in biology that includes a biology degree from the University of Connecticut, a 31 year career teaching high school biology, more that 50 years of fish keeping experience, and a life long interest in animals, natural history, and ecology.

Adam Harris Seth’s son, Adam, has a biology degree from Hartwick College and has been keeping and breeding reptiles for close to 20 years. Traveling to Costa Rica, Thailand, Australia, the Bahamian Islands and across the United States has allowed Adam to study ecosystems and environments first hand.

Jim White Jim has been at Harris in Wonderland for more than two years and brings with him years of fish keeping and breeding experience. Jim has successfully bred and maintained many fish species and has been particularly successful with African cichlids. Jim is an active member of the Pioneer Valley Aquarium Society.

Nathan Kallen Nathan joined Harris in Wonderland at the end of the summer to gain credit for school and has stayed on to work extensively in the reptile department. He has several independent breeding projects and will help to develop further breeding and rearing efforts with reptiles at Harris in Wonderland.