About Black River Coffee

We are situated in Downtown Sutton on the banks of the Black river. We pride ourselves on our ability to provide an excellent variety of both hot and cold espresso based drinks.

For those with laptops, we also have wireless access throughout the premises

Black River Coffee History

This building was for many years the site of Pugsley's Meat Market.

The Pugsley family of North Gwillimbury and Sutton are remembered as beef producers. Arthur E. Pugsley had a ranch off the Baseline Road, north to Lake Simcoe at present day Island Grove and Crescent Beach. Pugsley's were cattle drovers and dealers and butchers.

Arthur E. Pugsley was the son of John Pugsley, an East York butcher who emigrated from England in 1871 with his family. It was under his father's instruction that Arthur learned the trade of butchering, as well as working with his brother, William Pugsley, who was a butcher in Richmond Hill and also was Reeve there for a total of 22 years before and after the turn of the 20th century. Pugsley Avenue is named for him. In 1889 Arthur married Tamasine Price in Queensville. Arthur E. Pugsley and his family lived in East York and, for years, made the trip north to tend to the farm and the cattle.

They finally moved here just after the turn of the century. They would ship their cattle from Sutton to Toronto by rail. As well as using the Radial in later years (freight cars on the Radial went right through their property) the cattle were previously shipped on the Grand Trunk Railway. The cattle would be unloaded at the Sutton Station of the GTR and herded through town to the shipping yards at the Grand Trunk Stock Yards; this would be the barns at the North-East corner of the fair grounds today. With all of these beef cattle going through Sutton, everyone rushed to shut their gates to keep their lawns and gardens from being trampled or seeing that the locally owned cows, which were permitted to pasture at large, did not get mixed with the passing herd. Arthur was for many years of the first few decades of the 20th century, a Reeve of Sutton. In March 1909, his Council moved that cattle not be permitted to pasture at large.

Arthur E. Pugsley was the father of Bill Pugsley who was also a Reeve of Sutton for many years in the decades following his father's tenure.

Another family of Pugsley's settled in Sutton, around 1905. This was the year that Arthur E. Pugsley's nephew Frank emigrated from England and worked on the Pugsley ranch. Frank Pugsley and his wife Edith Maud Cleave had a son in 1910, they named him for his great-uncle Arthur, called 'Art' for short.

With this beef producing background of the Pugsley family, it made sense that in 1927 when Art Pugsley (the younger) had his first job it was with the Swift Canadian Company Limited. Swift Canadian was one of the original meat packing companies that formed the precursor to the Meat Packers Council of Canada. Art started off as a mail clerk and in five years rose in the ranks to become a Beef Buyer. Art returned to Sutton in 1932 and joined his father, Frank.

Two years earlier Frank had set up a Butcher shop at this site The business grew in both popularity and size, the store itself was enlarged twice. After World War 2, Art and a brother Robert bought out their father. This arrangement lasted less than 10 years; Bob ended up selling his portion of the business to his brother Art before leaving for Barrie in 1955.

Although the business of Pugsley's Meat Market is certainly not one of Sutton's oldest, it was in business for over 50 years, few High Street businesses can make that same claim. After Art's death in 1982, Mrs. Pugsley carried on the business for a few years before selling it. If you look out the window to the next building, you can see a mark there on the wall. That marks where a little building used to be. In the summer season, Art's sister Ruby Pugsley ran an ice cream business. The building was not made to last, made mostly of pressboard. It was torn down recently by the present owner, Michael Bushey, who so kindly allowed us into his shop for today's tour.

Melissa D. Matt April 11, 2008

Our Mission and Values

Mission

Our Mission is to provide gourmet quality coffee, sweets and sandwiches (both breakfast and lunch) in an upscale yet relaxed setting.

Black River Coffee is committed to :
People
Community
Quality of Life

Values

We Value: People
By cultivating positive relationships within a respectful, nurturing environment.

We Value: Community
By being active, responsible members of our community.

We Value: Quality of Life
"Great Drink, Great Food, Great Fun"

The customer comes first at Black River Coffee. We strive to improve our customers' day with an exceptional coffee experience. Customer satisfaction is our highest priority, and we will do whatever we can to make the customer happy.

We are committed to adhering to excellent business practices. Our goals include meeting the highest standards of quality control and operational efficiency. Our dedication to these standards will maximize customer satisfaction and long-term profitability of our business.

The Black River Coffee Team cares deeply about our employees and our community. We commit this team to providing a safe, clean and positive working environment for everyone in our store. We will continue to make active and positive contributions to the communities where we live and work.

We join together and share in our commitment to make Black River Coffee the best coffee house, not only in our town, but across Ontario.

Our Store Photos

About WIFI

( Wireless Internet Access )

We offer Wi-Fi for the computer buff, or business people on the go.