Andy Close
WARREN, Pa. – Like many people, Chad Raught was figuring out his next step after the COVID-19 pandemic.
As it turns out, that next step proved to be Straight Off the Block, a butcher shop in Sheffield that has hit the ground running with massive popularity.
“When I worked at TOPS, I used to run all kinds of specials for people in Sheffield,” Raught said. “By a certain amount of meat and I’ll cut it any way you want it. I’d do raffles, things like that, and I found out the people in Sheffield were real receptive.”
Boy are they ever.
The location at 10 Center St. has been buzzing since the shop opened. With a wide selection including steaks, chops, chicken, fresh sausage, roasts, patties, seafood, salads, and potatoes just to name a few, it’s easy to see why.
“When I left (Dresser-Rand) and I was pretty much forced to come back into the grocery business because of COVID, I told my wife, you know if I’m going to go back, I want to go back on my own. It was already in the planning to go ahead and start my own business.”
From there, Raught worked with Clarion Small Business Development to build a business plan and decided to invest.
“I thought hey, why don’t we invest this,” Raught said of the stimulus money U.S. citizens received in the wake of the pandemic. “I had it in the back of my mind to build a butcher shop.”
The location at 10 Center St. in Sheffield wasn’t for sale, but Raught inquired the previous owners to see if they wanted to sell. The rest is history – and a lot of hard work.
“It’s been two years of work to get ready,” Raught said. “The buildings were full of junk and needed a lot of renovation.
As with any new business, the opening was equal parts excitement and fear, but it has turned out to be even better than expected.
“It’s actually turned out a lot better than I anticipated,” Raught said. “I wanted to do a gradual open and ease into it, but it’s pretty much just exploded. I thought we’d be here a year from now.”
And patrons are coming from all over
“Everybody’s coming from Tidioute, Youngsville, Warren. I actually had a family from Texas buy a bunch of meat to take on a plane and bring back to Texas,” Raught said.
And it’s just the beginning.
“When we opened we didn’t even have half of the products we wanted,” noted Raught. “We’re trying to build inventory at the same time everybody is bombarding us. But it’s a good problem to have.”
In addition to Straight Off the Block, on the YouTube channel “The Butcher Shop” educating people on how to prepare all different kinds of meat.
There’s also plenty more in store for the shop.
“We plan to expand,” Raught said. “The plan was to do it in two phases, bring in the cutting and then bring in the smoke side. That’s the plan from here. I don’t know how long that’s going to take. I was shooting for six months to bring in phase two, but if we continue to do as well as we’re doing, I might be able to implement it sooner.”
NOTE: This is the first in a summer series of Touring Warren County, highlighting some of the unique places to visit in our area. Places you think we should feature? Email us at [email protected]
