When Moyna Matheson went for walks in downtown Summerside, she would stare at the Journal Pioneer building and imagine a café inside.
“It wasn’t about coffee, really,” she says, explaining her idea focussed on what coffee could do.
“Coffee shops bring people together.”
Matheson’s entrepreneurial appetite began when she grew up in Stanley Bridge and sold homemade fudge at the community hall.
“I’ve always had this yearning to create business. For the better part of my life, I probably resisted it,” Matheson says, confessing that twinges of fear held her back.
When she moved to Summerside with her own family a decade ago, she had the need to create employment for herself. She also saw a need in the community.
“It was a transition period, where a lot of businesses had closed and moved on,” she says. Her own faith in Summerside’s downtown stemmed, in part, from her entrepreneurial ancestors. Her grandfather J. E. Dalton had run a pharmacy and hotel there.
“I grew up with these stories of this vibrant and thriving downtown, so when we moved here, it kind of saddened me that had changed.”
The Journal Pioneer building, with its inviting arch window, rounded corner and hearty brick construction, inspired her with its architecture and history. Built in 1895, the structure houses the city’s newspaper and once housed the Summerside Bank.
Some warned the location lacked parking and the café might not flourish downtown, but Matheson paid such comments little heed. Her real doubts came closer to home.
“The biggest challenge was overcoming myself — telling myself that I could do this.”
To set her plan in motion, she sought information and advice from organizations like the P.E.I. Business Women’s Association, Downtown Summerside, the Chamber of Commerce and Innovation P.E.I.
She opened Samuel’s Coffee House in 2011, naming the business after another ambitious ancestor — Samuel Holland, surveyor of P.E.I. Her café features historical photos and community lore as prominently as the menu items on the chalkboard. Over seven years in business, the café has expanded its space and added a summer location in Cavendish.
Sometimes, Matheson still gazes at the Journal Pioneer building when she approaches, but now she looks inside to see people meeting or chatting with their friends in her cafe.
“I still get goosebumps in that moment,” she says.
