Every community needs A NEIGHBORHOOD BUTCHER
There are some businesses that every community needs - and a neighborhood butcher is one of them. Southern Steer was founded in 2013 with the goal of being that butcher in Clearwater, Florida. The community met us with such enthusiasm that we quickly grew to a second location. By offering the highest quality meats, healthy side items and complimentary gourmet groceries, we continue to win over new fans. In 2020 and 2021, as restaurants shut down and Americans learned the joys of cooking at home, Southern Steer enjoyed our best years ever with record-breaking sales.
Now, we're franchising to help entrepreneurs bring a neighborhood butcher shop to communities across the Southeast and eventually, the nation. We have a proven business model, provide exceptional training & ongoing support, and our visionary leadership team has decades of experience in helping entrepreneurs excel in business. Besides the Tampa Bay/Clearwater area, stores are slated for opening or already opened in Orlando and Jacksonville and other parts of central Florida.
If you're passionate about people and believe that your community deserves high quality meats delivered by unmatched customer service, investing in a Southern Steer franchise may be a wise choice for you.
Southern Steer is great concept for multi-unit franchise owners, restaurant chain professionals or first-time franchisees.
What Is a Southern Steer Butcher Franchise?
The neighborhood butcher shop is coming back as large grocery chains cut back on their inventoried cuts of meat and personnel. While once an essential part of every community, the local butcher shop was in danger of going the way of the dinosaur - and then something extraordinary happened. Foodies were born.
Now neighborhood butcher shops are experiencing a full-blown resurgence. With more Americans cooking at home than ever before, the foodie culture is driving a newfound interest in food education and availability. People want to know where their meat comes from and that they're buying high-quality, healthy products. They also want to know how to prepare it correctly. We have those answers.
"You get a higher quality meat when you visit us," says Greg Snyder, CEO and Founder of Southern Steer. "You get a product that's rotated faster so it's fresher than what you can get at the grocery store. But most importantly, there's the customer service side of it. Our customers always have questions and we help them leave with the confidence that they're going to cook their meat correctly. We're like an education center for the community. We're here to teach and encourage people, and to help our customers enjoy cooking more. To be able to do that makes Southern Steer a great opportunity."
Since our founding in 2013, Southern Steer has taken the Tampa bay-area by storm. With daily specials that highlight individual products such as our marinated steaks, chicken, take-n-bake sides, and more, Southern Steer has won a large, cult-like fan base of people who drive from miles away to visit us. In turn, our business has experienced double-digit growth for several consecutive years, including 2020, which was our best ever year.
The pandemic proved that neighborhood butchers are an essential and recession-resistant businesses
When the entire American economy seemingly shut down overnight due to the outbreak of COVID-19, only essential businesses were allowed to operate. Neighborhood butchers were not only deemed essential, they also acted as lifelines for Americans who could no longer go out to eat and had to discover cooking for the first time.
Southern Steer proved it was essential. Our two stores in the Tampa bay-area exploded with huge sales increases and new customers - a trend that has continued as new customers have become regular customers, discovering how fun and inexpensive it is to cook a great meal at home.
"We were blessed during this time" Snyder says. " People rediscovered cooking since they couldn't go out to eat. We were there to help them make a special meal at home - and the best part - these customers have kept coming back. It's been an extraordinary time for us as a business and we're very thankful for that."
You don't need to be a butcher to own a Southern Steer Butcher Franchise
Our experience in running two highly successful butcher shops over the last eight years has led us to develop a comprehensive support program that covers every aspect of your franchise. We help you with everything from real estate search and negotiations to store build-out, marketing and PR, and building community presence and involvement. Our intensive 4-week training program covers all aspects of running your Southern Steer operation and gives you to tools to open your store with the confidence that you can provide great service to your customers on opening day.
Southern SteerButcher is a high quality hospitality and community driven modern butcher shop. We offer premium, ethically sourced cuts, world famous marinated meats, homemade sides, specialty groceries, craft beers and wines. Our guests are inspired to return by emotional touch points not replicated in other retail environments. Giving back to and operating as an integral part of the community through outreach is core to our principles.
Southern Steer Butcher is also uniquely positioned to dominate a niche product that remains untouched by other food suppliers. In addition to supplying sustainable meats, franchise owners have the option of working within the local community to bring products to their customers that can’t be found in grocery stores or supermarkets. Not only does this provide insulation from competitors, it makes your location in your community the to-go place for high quality products not found anywhere else.
This level of support is something independent stores can only dream of. Whats more, we’ve worked out everything about how to market your business, how to build a community presence, and how to manage your product to maximize profitability. Just follow our business model. It’s really that straightforward.
And the backing support doesn’t end there. Southern Steer offers ongoing support for the life of the franchise….including helping you in the sales-process when you are ready to sell or retire. Any question, any time of day, will be answered by seasoned staff that can help with literally any aspect of running a franchise location. The good news is that this business doesn’t have the typical issues that come with most food franchises.
With all that being said….Southern Steer offers a franchise concept at the right place at the right time. With the love of local butcher shops on the rise and only expected to grow, Southern Steer Butcher has splashed onto the scene with a business model that fits consumer demands and can be easily replicated in communities across the U.S. Southern Steer Butcher is leading the trend toward “State of the Art” butchers that operate attractive, modern retail stores with an emphasis on community investment.
Now is the time to open a butcher shop in your community
If you want to own a business that is a community pillar, helps people find joy in cooking, serves exceptional products, and delivers great customer service, owning a Southern Steer franchise could be the right choice for you.
With relatively low start-up costs, a straightforward business model, and an exceptional track record of success, Southern Steer is ready to expand across the nation.
"We're looking for passionate people to join us," Snyder says. "A butcher shop is a recession-resistant business that is only becoming more relevant. People want to know where their food comes from and how to cook it - and that is not going to change. We've built a business model that offers tremendous profit potential, great work/life balance, and the ability to provide something every community needs. We're excited to franchise with people who are passionate about owning and operating a fun and exciting business that becomes an integral part of their community".
