Meat cutter comes to town
Damon Sherwood hasn’t been sleeping much lately. Last week he opened Sherwood Premium Meats in Highlands Plaza at 1733 Forrest Hills Boulevard. He already owns a store and a restaurant in Stella, Mo., and he works full time for Sam’s Club. Luckily he loves what he does.
“I’m a meat cutter,” Sherwood said, as he prepared to grind some beef, but you can call him a butcher. There’s only a little difference.
He learned his trade more than 26 years ago, beginning with Southtown Meat, a business that was destroyed by the Joplin tornado. He began as a delivery driver, but they started training him to cut after a few months.
When he moved on to Sam’s Club, he became a manager, but he was often in trouble when he was found cutting meat. They would tell him his job was managing, not cutting.
“I just couldn’t pull myself away,” he said. “It’s a stress reliever. There’s something primal about it.”
In the new store, he’s often processing meat by himself until two or three in the morning. He’s met some interesting people that way, he said.
In Missouri, he started with a meat shop and then opened a deli that serves lunch and dinner.
In Bella Vista, he’s starting with a selection of meats, but he has a few cooked items including roasted chicken and smoked brisket and ribs. He may add sandwiches in the future.
He expects his big seller will be steak, which he can sell either fresh or frozen. He packages his frozen meats in white freezer paper so they will stand up to a deep freeze.
The steaks are chosen carefully from the supplier. They are all black Angus and he looks for the best marbling.
“It’s a different clientele here,” he said about his inventory. “It will change as I learn.”
When he grinds his own hamburger, it’s labeled ground chuck but, along with the chuck, he’s likely to add the lean scraps from the steaks he trims so it’s actually a higher grade. If necessary, he’ll add some fat from the steaks, too. You need a certain percentage of fat for flavor.
Sherwood is happy to provide cooking advice along with his meat. He’s learned about cooking meat over his years in the business.
He’s also hoping to stock some local produce. He already has a source for local honey.
He opened with seven part-time employees, many of them friends and family, but as the shop gets going he will add more workers. He may even hire a meat cutter to help out.
He’s open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. He can reached at 479-876-1313.
When Sherwood decided to move into the Arkansas market, he spent some time looking for a good location. For a year, he visited Highlands Plaza in Bella Vista and watched the cars go by. He wanted the right traffic flow, but he also wanted an area with lots of churches and recreational activities. The Highlands had all those features.
“It’s a good fit,” he said.