A & S Pork Store in Park Slope, Brooklyn is closing on October 1. This real butcher shop is our source for sausages, roasts, and the best homemade mozzarella and ricotta we've ever tasted.
A&S is closing because they can't afford a huge rent increase.
We're wondering if you have more reports of family food businesses near you that are closing down as prices for almost everything increase? And, we ask more hopefully, have you heard of a business model that keeps family owned food businesses at work in their neighborhoods as real estate costs escalate?
There's been so many articles and posts about this closing. We've rounded them up here. What are your thoughts on the sad state of local butcher shops?
NY Daily News: "You are looking at the death of the last real butcher left in Park Slope," said Bonello, 37. "Brooklyn is going to be left to a bunch of bodegas serving cold cuts."
The Brooklyn Paper:Hillary Miller, a longtime Park Sloper, said the news just confirms the inevitable: “I always feared this place was going to close. It’s hard to find a good meat store, and they’re such nice guys.”
Only The Blog Knows Brooklyn: From a commenter: "This homogenizing force will not stop. Try to save one or two of your haunts - it won't do you any good ..."
Lost City: "Butcher butchered," sums it up.
P.S. The butchers at A&S are looking for a new space. Any landlords got a space for these guys? Help!
(image: Chris for TheKitchn)
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If it's happening in NY there's no hope for the rest of us.
One the plus side, it seems as if there's a new generation of butchers/charcuteries opening up (at triple the cost). But do these guys really know the trade?
Who knows? Have the old guys lost most of their trade skills because of what the market demands?
Hopefully these guys will resurface somewhere else.
We've got an old world German delicatessen in Chicago, Meyer, that is closing shop to be replaced by some sort of a Polish meat store--probably cheaper and probably without the "charm."
I definitely see family businesses closing all around me because of rising costs. But I live in a Mexican neighborhood so it's probably due to a combination of gentrification and the cost of doing business.
This is why European cities and communes have much tighter controls over what you can do with a property, and there are rent controls --- if I am not mistaken, the regulations against excessive rent increases applies to commercial properties too.
We just came back from the Danish island of Bornholm... there wasn't a single monster vacation home on the island. We were told that Danish regulations required a certain (large) percentage of houses be sold to people who actually live on the island, and that town centers actually provide services for local residents, and not be dominated by those that serve the tourist trade. They've really striven to control gentrification, and it seems to be succeeding.
That said, can't recall having seen a butcher shop... Hope they are not a dying breed... I think few consumers have ever bought meat in a proper butcher shop, and so aren't aware of the superior quality a good butcher offers.
At least they are still seeking a new space. Many old time places just throw in the towel. As long as there is demand, there is still hope! There is a polish meat market here in Jersey City where they still make their own kielbasa etc.
http://www.izzyeats.com/2007/02/sshhhhhhhh-dont-tell-great-grandma-ida.html
http://www.izzyeats.com/2007/11/hugged-for-kielbasa-giving-food-advice_14.html
This is so upsetting! There is a butcher nearby however in Windsor Terrace. United Meat Market on Prospect Park West. Its a great butcher.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/united-meat-market-brooklyn