BUSINESS OF THE WEEK J&J Meat Market
J&J Meat Market offers premium meats and smoked goods, with a focus on USDA upper 2/3 choice and prime grade beef. They also make a variety of specialty creations, including steak and chicken grenades, MOAB and Bouncing Betty’s (just to name a few). Check back in throughout the rest of this week, to learn more about this awesome local business!!! 🥩
Jason LaRue (right) and Justin Friddle (left) started planning, for what would become J&J Meat Market, back in late 2014. While Jason was working toward his degree, he took a few extra classes on meat processing, preparation and evaluation, and he actually really enjoyed it! When moving back to his hometown of Sulphur Springs, Jason reached out to his long-time school friend, Justin Friddle, with the idea to open up a meat market. Justin brought up how lots of people missed the old Yantis meat market and the Quickie’s in S.S., and many desired to find a good place to get exactly what they wanted, how they wanted it. From there, they turned their ideas into a business and opened their Yantis location in May 2015, followed by their Sulphur Springs location a year later…
We always ask the owners of each #BOTW to share their favorite stories about their business, and Jason LaRue told us a great one about the night before the opening day of J&J Meat Market!
It was around 2 a.m., and Jason and Justin were cutting some bologna on the slicer… “We leaned back and both took a piece and ate it, looking at how the case, meat and store looked. Justin started laughing and I asked, ‘What is it?’ He said, ‘We have all this nice, new equipment and high-grade meat, and the first thing we eat is bologna!!!’ We both, tired and excited, were cracking up and laughing so hard, like the many times we had since middle school as friends… It was a great moment and memory.”
“We love hearing all the time how much people love the products and how they set themselves apart and speak for themselves… If we don’t absolutely love it and wouldn’t feed it to our family, then you won’t find us selling it to your family!!! We feel blessed to be a surviving and thriving small business, especially in this industry when so many big grocery stores dominate this space, not just locally but everywhere. Thank y’all for supporting us, which makes this possible!!!”
