Our Story
At Metro Reload, our mission is to provide residents of Kamloops and the surrounding area with quality products and services, along with excellent customer service.
But who are we and where did we come from? Here’s a little bit about Metro Reload and our story.
About Us
Metro Reload, formally known as Metro Aggregates, is a sister company of former Westsyde Road Materials which served Kamloops and the surrounding area for over 30 years.
Like Westsyde Road Materials, Metro Reload is a local, family-run business that strives to exceed customer’s needs and expectations.
Metro Reload is operated by Desiree Sonneson and Chad Blair, the third generation of the Blair family to operate the Kamloops gravel business.
Our History
1958
Robert (Bob) Blair & Margaret (Muggs) Blair opened Newton Cartage & Excavating in Surrey, British Columbia. Newton Cartage & Excavating provided trucking and excavation services out of a gravel pit that was not owned by them. The company specialized in digging commercial and residential foundations, as well as trucking gravel to their residential and commercial customers. Newton Cartage & Excavating closed in 1970.
1970
Bob and Muggs left the coast and moved to Kamloops, BC. This is where they opened their second construction company, Blair Construction, in 1972. This time, Bob and Muggs bought and opened a gravel pit at 5800 Westsyde Road. Blair Construction focused on trucking and excavation services. The company worked on the highways around Kamloops and had contracts with the School District, telephone companies, the City of Kamloops and, of course, supplied the residents of Kamloops with gravel.
1977
Don Blair (second generation), alongside his parents Bob & Muggs Blair, opened a third company – Westsyde Road Materials. Westsdye Road Material became the retail company of the Westysde Road Materials Pit. Westsyde Road Materials, operated by Don Blair, continued to serve Kamloops with road building and landscaping supplies, as well as excavation and water hauling.
2003
Don supplied the Ministry of Forests with all equipment he owned to fight the Barriere and Kamloops wildfires. Don continued to build the company, working with other construction companies, forestry, landscapers, and home builders.
2012
Westsyde Road Material moved the retail side of the business to 1205 Chief Louis Way (the old Metro Aggregates yard).
2014
Westsyde Road Materials closed.