Sherburne native Steve Youngs is offering fresh meat with a side of customer service.
Youngs, 54, owns Stella’s Meat and Deli at 49 N. Main St. in Sherburne. Though he launched the business in November 2017, Youngs has decades of butchering experience.
“I worked at Skip’s, which was my father-in-law’s here in town, and it was his for 20 years,” Youngs said. “He sold it, then they left and I decided to open it and do it on my own, so I’ve been doing this for a long time in town. I started with him in ’92.”
Youngs said Stella’s, named for his bulldog, features meat, specialty items and deli service.
“We do beef, pork and chicken, plus a few specialty items that we make, (such as) our own beef pinwheel and a pork pinwheel, and a chicken cordon bleu that we make our own way,” he said, noting that his oven-ready items are best-sellers. “On the deli side, we do subs, sandwiches and wraps, plus deli meat. I cut it all here, and we do have some freezer pack specials. We do fresh turkeys for Thanksgiving and we take a lot of meat orders for holidays, so people don’t have to worry about keeping it in the fridge and it’s ready when they want it.”
Youngs said Stella’s has distinguished itself through high-quality products and service.
“We are more service-oriented than the big stores,” he said. “It’s a full-service meat case, so you have to talk to us to get it, and we get a lot of customers asking how to cook stuff. My whole deal is, I keep it fresher. The big stores will keep it in the case for a week and, because we’re full-service, I’ll keep it in there for two days.”
“I go with the market price, so it’s real similar (to a grocery store rate),” Youngs continued. “But I carry a better grade of beef — it’s choice — so my price points might be a little higher, but it’s better quality, and you get service.”
Customers, Youngs said, represent a mix.
“I tend to know everybody in town,” he said. “I was a Little League coach in town, too, so I know parents and their kids and after a while, you just know everybody. I like being part of the community … and I enjoy talking to people. It’s 90% Sherburne (customers), because we’re so small, but we do get some Norwich and some Hamilton people. It’s a mix, because I do a lot of subs and sandwiches to order, so there’s a lot of high school kids for that and, on the meat side, we get a lot of older people that still know how to cook.”
Youngs said he plans to operate Stella’s until retirement.
“No big changes right away, but I always look for new stuff to add in, as far as specialty items,” he said. “I’ve got another 10 or 15 years.”
For more information, find “Stella’s Meat and Deli” on Facebook or call 607-674-6036.
Stella’s is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays.