With New York strips, sirloins, pork chops, bacon and more, Lee’s Carroll’s Meat Shoppe has enough cuts and styles and flavors to whet the appetite of just about any meat eater – and it has for almost 45 years.
For the past 15 years, the University Boulevard and Westside locations of the meat institution have been under the ownership and management of father and son, Dan and Christopher Lee.
The two locals bought the locations from the original owners, whom Dan Lee knew as a child, in the mid-1990s. It was Carroll’s then.
They said it was the best business opportunity for the two at the time, although it was contrary to their previous philosophy of finding a venture with no employees and little overhead, which they laugh at now.
“We do know a bit about meat,” they said.
The business focuses on customer service and quality, fresh products that do not tend to stay on the shelves long. They buy the meat from farms and cut it at the stores.
The turnover for the majority of products is fairly quick, said Dan Lee, and the stores average sales of 12,000-15,000 pounds of meat a week.
Employees have the authority to pull anything from the racks if they consider it unacceptable. In addition, cases are situated with monitors and the Lees are notified if the coolers or cases dip below certain temperatures that could impact freshness.
“They always seem to go off at midnight on Sunday,” Chris Lee joked.
The locations are closed Sunday and Monday.
Saturdays are the busiest day of the week for the stores and in the fall it’s due in part to football and tailgating season.
That includes this weekend for the annual Florida-Georgia game, when tailgaters camped in RV City make the quick trip across the Mathews Bridge for their grilling fare.
The stores have “freezer pack” combination deals and a popular daily deal outlined on a calendar in advance, but the hottest item from the store can be bought on the fourth Friday of every month.
With the exception of November, when it’s Black Friday, the deal is an 8-ounce filet mignon for $3.99 with a limit of 10 per customer per day. It’s the “best deal in town” said both Lees and people often line up before the stores open at 10 a.m. for the purchase.
“They’d try to get 100 if the sign wasn’t up,” said Chris Lee.
Dan Lee was a parks and recreation director for the City as well as sports complex director before making the transition into private business.
Combined, the locations employ 12 people and although the business is successful, Dan Lee sees himself turning over the reins of the University Boulevard store to Chris within the next few years. His next tasks are planned.
“Fishing,” said Dan Lee, “and spending time with my grandkids.”
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