Krueger Butcher Shops
In the former Town of Hespeler the name Krueger was synonymous with butchers! Two generations of this family operated shops in the core area.
Beginning in 1905, Arthur James Krueger opened his shop on the south side of Queen East, between Cooper Street and Tannery Street East, under the name “Krueger Meats”. Simply by calling telephone number 11, your meat order would be filled and delivered to your door, the same day, by horse and wagon.
A.J., as he was commonly called, operated his shop until 1922, before taking up farming in the area and began a career trucking livestock for J. M. Schneider’s while still operating a slaughter house on Townline Road. A. J. Krueger died in 1953. Orlando Alexander Krueger, A.J.’s brother, opened his butcher shop downtown in 1928 and successfully operated until he sold his business to Bob Kiffman in 1947. Kiffman operated at the location until 1963. In 1953, Jack and brother Jim Krueger, A. J.’s sons, purchased Harry “Ham” Sprung’s Butcher Shop on the south side of Queen St. East at the corner of Tannery St. East. The business occupied the west half of the Toronto-Dominion Bank building. “Krueger Brothers Quality Meats” operated at this location for over ten years before closing the business due to working extra-long hours and increased competition from the recently opened malls in Galt and Hespeler. Shopping patterns had changed and customers now chose to buy their meats at the larger food chain retailers.
However, the shop closing didn’t end their involvement in the meat business. They continued to raise livestock and operate their slaughter house on Townline Road, next to the “Little Dam”.
The brothers did custom work, slaughtering beef and pork, for other farmers as well as their own customers. In addition, they continued to farm, truck livestock, and do custom crop work; ploughing, seeding, spaying, baling, cutting, shelling corn, combing corn and grain as contacted by other farmers.
After many decades in the butchering and farming business, Jack and Jim Krueger retired with the sale of their farm.
*Photo of Jack Krueger by Walter Gowing
Fantastic story! My wife and I bought the Krueger house on Hungerford and had Jack in for a coffee to discuss an old well we had found on the property.
AJ was my grandfather. Unfortunately neither I nor my cousins ever met him as he died not long before I was born. Do remember stories my mother told me.
My father, Elmer Allen, worked with the guys. I was just a kid back then but remember him getting extra work from his regular job as a butcher for Loblaws. I think after they closed the shop he also helped out with the preparing stuff for custom work. I remember he took pride in the head cheese – yuk!!!
The Kruegers were my neighbours for fifteen years when my studio was the Papersmith Mill. I employed John Krueger, the son of one of them, in the late seventies. They were kind to me; sometimes even bringing over cooked meals. We all had lunch together, in the nineties, years after we had moved away. The area has drastically changed.