The Meat House, a New Hampshire chain that markets itself as the modern version of the neighborhood butcher shop, is targeting North Jersey as a prime area for expansion.
The owners of the franchise rights for New Jersey will open the state's first Meat House in Summit in November and are scouting locations in North Jersey's suburban downtowns, including Ridgewood and Montclair.
The company could slice off market share not only from traditional butcher shops, but from supermarkets, which have bulked up their butcher departments in recent years. Specialty market chains such as Whole Foods and Fairway Market, which are adding stores here, make their meat departments and custom cuts a main selling point.
While every town in North Jersey used to have one or more neighborhood butcher shops, the number in Bergen County has dwindled to about a dozen. The disappearance of those shops has created a niche The Meat House wants to fill, and food industry expert Phil Lempert, editor of The Supermarket Guru website, believes a combination of factors will make The Meat House a hit.
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