LEESBURG — It looks to be a memorable week in Leesburg as the doors swing open for two new businesses.
Ironically, the stores are both located along Ind. 15, both are family-owned and both are tentatively set to open within two days of each other.
Owens Fresh Meat Market
Owens Fresh Meat Market has renovated the old John Deere store on the west side of Ind. 15, south of town, and is owned by Mark and Kristy Owens, with help from their two sons, Jonathan and Austin.
The store has 4,000 square feet of space, but won’t be a full-fledged grocery store.
Instead, it’s a farm-to-table operation that leans in part of the family’s farm, which has several thousand hogs and a few hundred head of cattle.
“My goal here is to be a year-round farmer’s market,” said Mark Owens.
Owens said they’ll have a wide variety of meats plus numerous specialty foods, as well as a few basic items and some hot foods to go.
“A lot of Amish baked goods. We’ll have jellies and jams and pickles and peaches,” he said, rattling off some of the items.
One entire display shelf will be dedicated to beef jerky.
“We’ll have cheeses and meat sticks and milks and juices and sodas specialty drinks ….,” he said.
He said they’ve been working on the meat market idea for three years and were spurred, in part, by problems during and the pandemic.
“COVID really kicked me into gear. All the local processors forgot me. They forgot that we sent beef in every month and they started taking everybody out of the woodwork and the next thing you know, they’re two years out, and we lost a ton of money shipping cows to the open market. Hogs, same thing, so we basically decided to get rid of that part of the system and control it,” Owens said.
“So now we control it from animal to the door,” he said.
Finding a location turned into a bigger-than-expected effort because of the permitting process that limits where you can place a meat processing facility.
“It’s been a long process,” he said.
He said they hope to have 14 to 20 employees and be open by Friday.
Hours will be 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
He said they expect to be certified as a full-service slaughterhouse by the U.S. Department of Agriculture by September.
“Lambs, goats … you pretty much name it we can put through,” Owens said. “We’re probably going to be doing deer processing in the winter.”
Steuby’s
The long awaited Steuby’s, owned by Stu and Shawnee Wysong, will open its doors after months of renovations after they purchased the old Stacy’s restaurant just south of the downtown.
After a few successful soft opening trial runs, they plan to open Wednesday.
Tony Ford, a longtime certified chef who worked for years at the Sleepy Owl in Syracuse, will be the manager. He describes the menu as “upscale comfort food.”
“We’re going to have steaks, pastas, pizza line, scratch made soups … signature sandwiches, burgers,” Ford said. “And there will be specials all the time. We have a wide variety of seafood.”
They’ll also have a large bar and lots of appetizers in hopes of attracting sports fans.
Stacy’s closed in December 2022 and the Wysongs, who own an insurance company in Leesburg, announced plans to acquire it the following May.
Renovations, which included most of the interior, took longer than expected, they said.
They plan to employ about 24 people.
The Wysongs want to continue the neighborly feel of what Stacy’s enjoyed for decades, but wanted to upgrade the menu.
They also plan to work with Maple Leaf Farms, as well as the Owens Fresh Meat Market.
“That’s why we did this — for our community,” Shawnee Wysong said. “We’re trying to involve as many people as we can. A lot of our staff are from here. We’re provided jobs and good food and a homey environment.”
The connection to locally sourced food and the opening date for Steuby’s and Owens Fresh meat Market just kind of fell into place.
“It’s all coincidental that it’s all kind of working out as a good thing for the community,” Stu said. “I think it’s all gonna kind of complement one another. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Steuby’s will start with a five-day schedule, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday (with a limited menu).