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COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy
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| Brothers Will Fueling, left, and John Fueling opened The Corner Butcher Shop in La Verne three weeks ago. |
Local butcher shop slices to success
When considering the various vocations of local school parents, the list of different trades, functions and endeavors can be an interesting mix. Enter Foothill Country Day School parent John Fueling and his brother Will Fueling.
Three weeks ago, the duo successfully launched the opening of The Corner Butcher Shop, a new market located just outside the city of Claremont in La Verne.
Located at 2359 Foothill Boulevard within the shopping plaza on the northeast corner of Foothill Boulevard and Fruit Street, the store offers a wide selection of meats along with old-fashioned service—making the meat market a growing attraction with a number of returning customers.
“In Orange County, we had a butcher shop that we went to all the time but when we moved to La Verne, we didn’t have a place to go to,” John Fueling explained. “We’re trying to bring a nice place to a nice city.”
The 2700-square-foot facility - that contains an assortment of meats, cheeses, beverages and sauce—is a venture that the Fuelings have wanted to undertake for some time. The brothers had thought of choosing a location closer to downtown La Verne but found that the current location was not only a better financial move but also a better location to attract potential customers.
“There’s a part of me that would have loved to be a part of the downtown area but there are a lot of people who don’t go to that area,” John Fueling said. “You definitely can’t ignore Foothill Boulevard and we’re also next to a tenant that has a good draw in Marshalls. That’s key.”
One aspect of the butcher shop that the Fuelings hope will be a draw is the homey feel of the market. Many of the items sold from the nuts and sauces to the wines and sodas are imported from Michigan, the native state of the two proprietors.
A total of 9 people are on staff at the market and, while customers can come in, purchase their items and leave, there is also a wooden table in the center of the shop that has also become a place where customers gather to eat lunch.
“At first, we were going to use it to merchandise our products and then in the evening have it available for groups to meet,” John Fueling said. “I didn’t know that it was going to become a lunch table but it’s great. You could come in here for lunch one day and see 4 mechanics and a police chief having lunch at the same table.” (story continues below)
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COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy
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| Claremont resident Martin Lomeli has lunch at The Corner Butcher in La Verne. The new store serves lunch specials daily, including hot sandwiches. |
The lunch table is a place where San Dimas resident Scott Dilley can take a break to eat lunch, converse and relax before returning to work. As he partook of his roast beef sandwich on Monday, not a thought about his job seemed to enter his mind—only how much enjoyment he had from each bite of the sandwich.
“I like the fact that you can walk into the store and either get something to cook at home, purchase something that is pre-cooked or just sit down and have a meal at the table,” said Mr. Dilley, a frequent customer at The Corner Butcher Shop. “We haven’t had something like this in La Verne in a long time.”
Sitting to the right of Mr. Dilley on Thursday was his friend and Claremont resident Martin Lomeli, who also was enjoying a roast beef sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes and is the person who introduced Mr. Dilley to the shop.
“It’s a great place and I’ve been 4 or 5 times already,” Mr. Lomeli said. “They have great quality meats and really good service. It’s comfortable and there is plenty of parking. I came during the first week it was open and I’ve kept coming back ever since.”
The Corner Butcher Shop also carries 50 different selections of wine, has a $5.99 lunch menu that contains a daily selection of sandwiches along with a side dish, and also take-home meals for dinner. The establishment also caters, is a member of the La Verne Chamber of Commerce and has sponsored youth teams in the La Verne/San Dimas AYSO.
While the market has advertised in local publications, a significant portion of the interest in the butcher shop has come in one of the simplest forms of promotion.
“The word of mouth has been pretty decent,” Tim Fueling said.
According to the Fuelings, there are plans in the future for more community outreach. The lunch table will be used for community organizations in the future and there is also the possibility of sampling events as well.
In the meantime, the two brothers will be paying close attention to what their customers are saying and continue to provide their customers with a unique butcher shop experience.
“We’re still trying to figure out what sells and what doesn’t,” John Fueling said. “At the same time, we’re listening to our customers. We’re going to keep it simple and fresh and we believe the people will come.”
—Landus Rigsby
