History

The Carlsons started in the meat business in 1913, when William Carlson bought an existing meat market on main street in Grove City, Minnesota. At that time is was called City Meat Market. "Billy Butch" ran it s a local meat market. He sold fresh cuts as well as sausages and specialty items for all the scandinaviansin the area.

William bought animals from local farmers. The slaughtering was done in a small building in the local town pasture, what is now the city park. The meat was then hauled to the meat market where the meat was stored in a cooler cooled by ice taken from local lakes the previous winter.

William's son, Willard, grew up involved in the family business. Upon returning from World War II he began working full time with his Dad, until William's death in 1954.

In the 50's and 60's the focus of the business changed from fresh daily meats to custom processing and frozen meat sales. In 1955 a new, modern slaughter house and aging coolers were built to accommodate the increase in custom processing. In 1967 the business was moved from the original main street location to the present location, one block off of main street. A new cutting room and retail area were built.

Willard's son, Charles, also grew up involved in the meat market. He has continued the family business following Willard's death in 1983.

The focus of the business is now becoming twofold. We continue a tradition of quality custom meat processing, as well as selling halves and quarters of beef and pork. We have added freezers and coolers to accommodate a growing retail section. The retail aspect of the business now includes many varieties of award-winning, homemade sausages, some new recipes and some used by "Billy Butch".

We also sell all cuts of beef, pork, and buffalo and upon request will fill any special orders.

To retain an "old-fashioned" atmosphere, we have displayed some of the tools of the trade from years gone by. To insure quality product, we are a federally inspected meat plant, one of the few in this part of the state. This means that our animals are slaughtered, cut and packaged under the high standards set by the USDA. We buy only the best animals from local farmers.

We guarantee your satisfaction, a tradition continued by three generations of Carlson Meats.