The Butcher’s Block is on a path of growth
Eric Everhart, owner of The Butcher’s Block in Lexington and Winston-Salem, stands in front of the specials board in the Lexington store. {Vikki Broughton Hodges/Davidson Local}
After working more than 30 years in the grocery business, Eric Everhart decided to take a leap of faith and open The Butcher’s Block in uptown Lexington in July 2017.
“What set us up for success is the fact that 90 percent of grocery stores sell prepackaged meat.” He explained those meats often come with a lot of preservatives and are not of the same quality as meats from an old-fashioned butcher shop.
Four years later, Everhart’s Lexington store is thriving. He opened a second location in March of this year in the heart of the Innovation Quarter in downtown Winston-Salem on the ground floor of the Bailey Power Plant complex, which features upscale apartments above the retail space. Everhart’s business was featured in the September issue of Our State magazine, along with other old-school butchers across North Carolina.
“My goal is to have 10 stores,” Everhart said, adding he has blueprints ready for a third store in downtown Salisbury. “I want to leave a legacy to my children.”
The Davidson County native has four children ranging from 15 to 25, with the youngest recently joining in the family business. His oldest, Nick, inspired him to start the business.
Everhart grew up in Tyro and began bagging groceries at 17 at the Food Lion at High Rock Landing. “I started out as a bagger and left as the store manager.”
Certified Angus Beef Prime filets and Tomahawk steaks are premium cuts available at the butcher shop.
{Vikki Broughton Hodges/Davidson Local}
Everhart later joined the upscale Fresh Market grocery chain and managed stores in Winston-Salem and Greensboro. “Then it got to the point I was going around opening new stores for them in Southern Pines and Cornelius.” Former colleagues at Fresh Market joined Everhart in his new endeavor. Charles Hall, who had been a head butcher for more than 20 years at Fresh Market, helped him open the Lexington store and now works in the Winston-Salem location. David Allen, another Fresh Market veteran, joined the team and Craig Wiggins, a longtime veteran of the grocery business, manages the Lexington store.
“You try to surround yourself with good people,” he said.
Everhart said the quality and variety of what he offers at his stores differentiates his shops from what grocery stores carry. He was one of the first butcher shops in the state to carry the huge Tomahawk steaks and also offers tri-tip, the top part of a sirloin steak. The stores now offer Prime Certified Angus Beef. “Only 4 percent of CAB is Prime — you can taste the difference and it’s extremely tender.
“We try to stay ahead of the curve and be a trend-setter. A new thing now is beef belly, which is better than pork belly if you like to smoke meat. It makes better burnt ends.”
During the holidays, the butcher shops offer the expensive Wagyu beef, a premium Japanese beef that comes with its own certificate of authenticity.
More exotic meat choices include Carolina Bison burgers from Asheville, alligator tail meat, frog legs, elk and rabbit, which are frozen and can be preordered.
Sixty South Salmon from Antarctic waters and a wide variety of oysters are part of the seafood department at The Butcher’s Block.
{Vikki Broughton Hodges/Davidson Local}
But it’s not all about red meat at The Butcher’s Block. The Lexington shop carries specialty stuffed chicken breasts as well as other poultry parts. The store commenced carrying a small variety seafood about four months after it opened but that selection currently rivals the meat counter, especially late in the week when shrimp, deep-sea dry scallops, oysters from Rhode Island to Canada, and a variety of fish such as salmon, halibut, snapper, grouper, tuna, mahi mahi and rainbow trout arrive fresh.
“We’re the only butcher shop in the Triad to carry Sixty South Salmon,” Everhart said of a variety of salmon farm raised in the icy waters of Antarctica at the tip of southern Chile. The name comes from the southern latitude.
In addition to fresh meat and seafood, Butcher’s Block carries a good number of North Carolina products: Ashe County Cheese, Chad’s Carolina Corn, Chapel Hill Toffee, Cackalacky sauces, Thomas’ Gourmet sauces and Cape Fear Rum Cakes. “We like to support our state, number one! And people like North Carolina-themed gift baskets.”
The shops have a wide variety of Maine-based Stonewall Kitchen sauces, jams, marinades and salad dressings. Some fresh produce is available for those who like to do one-stop shopping.
Everhart decided to expand his business when he realized how many people were traveling from Winston-Salem and Salisbury, as well as other areas, to his Lexington store.
The Winston-Salem location, which is about twice the size of the Lexington store at 2,000 square feet, carries wine and beer as well as more high-end chocolates. He said that store was originally planned to open before the holidays last year so it has been slower to take off but Everhart is optimistic.
“I’m still investing and growing the business and putting money back into it. Once Winston-Salem is established, I’d like to shoot to open in downtown Salisbury by spring or summer of next year. After that, it might be Jamestown or Oak Ridge, north of Greensboro. We’ve talked about the Concord-Mooresville and Hickory areas as well.”
