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Meat companies make contrasting moves

Newly opened Schuchmann Meat Co. plans expansion while longtime player American Meat Co. shutters

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A Springfield meat company with more than 60 years in operation has shut its doors just as an industry newcomer arrives on the scene.

American Meat Co. owner Jason Owen abruptly closed the business April 9, citing frustration at his inability over the past several months to fill employee vacancies. The company, which was founded in 1959, had been in the Owen family since the 1980s, he said.

“I was wearing people out, the guys I did have,” Owen said, noting he and one employee were all that was left upon closing. “I’ve been trying to hire people for over four months. You can’t find anybody who wants to work.”

American Meat Co.’s closure comes weeks after Schuchmann Meat Co. debuted in Springfield. Husband-and-wife owners Chad and Julie Schuchmann opened a 1,500-square-foot shop Feb. 26 at 4406 S. Campbell Ave., Ste. 100. It’s the first of three stores the couple plan to launch in the Queen City by the end of next month.

“What we want to evoke is like an old school butcher shop, where you can walk in and get your custom cut of meat,” Julie Schuchmann said.

She said the shop handles custom butchering of beef and pork products for retail customers, but also offers cuts of meat not commonly found in grocery stores. Those include hangar steak, beef ribs, veal chops and lamb. The shop also sells sauces, rubs and seasonings, as well as sides that can be thrown alongside meat on the grill, such as bacon wrapped asparagus and vegetable kabobs.

“We also have anything you can find on a charcuterie board,” she said, adding the shop’s deli section sells made-to-order sandwiches including cured meats such as capicola, prosciutto, smoked turkey and rosemary ham.

Starting out
Schuchmann said all meat in the butcher case is sourced from U.S. distributors, including prime beef from Kansas-based Creekstone Farms and wagyu beef from Seattle-based Mishima Reserve. The couple’s family cattle ranch, which spans 1,050 acres in Billings, Clever and Mount Vernon, also supplies some of the beef in the shop’s frozen section, she said.

While her husband has been involved in the farm industry all his life, Schuchmann said her background is in retail. She’s worked since 2007 for women’s clothing boutique Harem & Co. – a job she intends to maintain while working a couple days a week at Schuchmann Meat Co.

Several months before opening the shop, the Schuchmanns purchased a small meat processing plant in Conway. Formerly Spring Valley Meat Processing, the facility is now Schuchmann Meat Locker, she said.

“We were interested in pursuing that,” she said, declining to disclose the purchase price. “It just seemed like the timing was right.”

The plant purchase last summer wasn’t initially made with the intent of opening a butcher shop, Schuchmann said. However, after the facility passed state inspections, she said doing so “seemed like the natural progression.”

“When we were looking for a shop location, we felt like that area would give us access to Nixa, Ozark or anyone that would be traveling to the lake down South Campbell,” she said, noting it replaced a shuttered Subway restaurant. “We’re glad that we’re there. I didn’t realize how many people were around that area.”

Location also played a role in the company’s planned second store, which is across the street from Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium. The 521 W. Sunshine St. shop is opening in space formerly occupied by R&K Coins, which closed last year, Schuchmann said.

The closure of American Meat Co. also proved beneficial to the Schuchmanns as the couple bought Owen’s equipment, such as coolers and freezers, and they’re taking over his lease at 1845 E. Turner St., Ste. A. Schuchmann said the third location gives more butchering space and a third retail shop.

“That will definitely provide us the space that we need. We’re lacking capacity to keep up with demand,” she said, declining to disclose their investment in the three shops and American Meat Co. equipment.

She said plans call for both shops to open by late May.

Wrapping up
American Meat Co.’s Owen said because he was so short-staffed this month, a quick exit was the best option. He said he’d been trying to hire four employees to get to a six-person workforce. Regularly working 14-hour days to make up for the worker shortage was wearing the 47-year-old out, he said.

“Closing quickly was the best thing for me because I knew what was going to happen,” he said. “If it was announced, I would have been hit so hard with people trying to get a lot of product.”

While Owen said the coronavirus pandemic contributed to revenue at American Meat Co. dropping around 30% from its 2019 performance of $1 million, closing the business wasn’t a financial decision.

“I can’t believe I made it through COVID, but I did,” he said. “Now it’s pretty sad I’m shutting down.”

Owen said he had recently hired two employees but neither showed up for their first day. He suspects they were just looking for something to note for unemployment benefits that they were making an effort to find a job.

“They’re making more money sitting at home,” he said of those on the unemployment rolls. “It’s sad, but I’m tired of fighting it. I was just done.”

According to the Missouri Department of Labor, the maximum weekly benefit for unemployment insurance in Missouri is $320 for up to 20 weeks. The coronavirus relief plan signed in March by President Joe Biden provides $300 weekly bonus checks until Sept. 6. That’s down from the $600 per week extended in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act passed last year.

Owen, who became American Meat Co. owner in 2013, after taking over for his father Richard Owen, said he was raised in the business. He plans to take some time to figure out his next professional step.

“I don’t know what’s in store for myself,” he said. “This is all I’ve pretty much ever known.”

Comments

1 comment on this story |
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Molly

I think it is understandable that nobody wants to work for a butcher shop that pays less than $15 an hour. It is a difficult and demanding type of work to do and would require being paid a living wage. The statement “nobody wants to work...” should always read “nobody wants to work for me.”

Wednesday, May 5, 2021
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