One of Jacksonville’s most notable and storied businesses officially changed ownership on Tuesday.
Terry and Marcy Jones announced Tuesday that Jones Meat & Locker has transferred ownership to Nuss Partners, LLC and its two partners Bob Stanton and Derrick Clevenger, who are based in Indiana.
Stanton says he’s excited for this new venture for his company and keeping it in Jacksonville with all of the current employees: “I’ve been an amateur pit master for about 25 years. I love it. I love food. I love talking about food. If people come in and talk to me about food, I can talk all day – I love it. We heard about this business. My partner and I were saying that we should find a small meat processing plant, believe it or not, that embodies the same culture that we want and then, see what we could do with it. Let’s embrace the community. Let’s grow it. Let’s open up butcher shops throughout the Midwest with the same culture and stuff. It’s all being processed here in this town. We came across this through a broker and then we met Terry and Marcy. We fell in love with them, and here we are.”
Stanton says that they are investing in the facility and growing it outward in the Jacksonville area and beyond. He says the biggest growth will be in the retail side of things: “We are investing in this facility to grow it. On top of that, it’s not just about growing it from a revenue perspective. It’s also about giving the employees opportunities, continue with the community involvement. I know Terry and Marcy has always been great about that and we don’t want to stop that. I think that’s amazing and it’s a big part of what we want to do. The front end, where people know them and where they buy things, I want to grow that. I maybe want to offer some pre-made foods so that people can say ‘I’m not really in the mood to cook tonight’ and they can come pick it up, warm it up, and now they have dinner and don’t have to cook. You’ll see some changes like that coming over the next 6 months, which will be great. We have to get through deer season first. Everybody has been talking about deer season, so we are fully aware of that. Once we get through that and the holidays, then we are going to start trying to find ways to make some enhancements for the community to enjoy.”
Stanton says all of the award-winning flavors and products are not going to be touched. Instead, Stanton hopes to supplement with his own lines of jerky and sauces and offer those on the retail side of the counter along with all of the current favorites.
Stanton is hoping to find a more centrally-located space away from the current East State Street location for the retail side of the business to continue to grow it: “We may think about looking for spots that would be great to move just the retail portion to. I don’t want to move the [processing facility]. It’s going to stay in Jacksonville. It’s the last thing I would ever want to do. This is the home of Jones Meat & Locker.”
Terry & Marcy are expected to stay on at the business throughout a transition period to continue to integrate Nuss Partners into the business and the Jacksonville community.
The Jones Family has been involved with the Meat & Locker for 81 years. Stanton invites the Jones Family’s customers to come by the locker over the next week and introduce yourselves.