Meuwly’s turns 5!
On a sweltering July day in 2018, we opened our doors to the Meuwly’s retail store for the first time.
It was already two years into our dream, and we’d been supplying local restaurants for some time. Our subscription box was up and running (customers were meeting us in the back alley to pick up their monthly packages!) and the Meuwly’s name was slowly becoming known in the neighborhood.
None of that came close to the feeling of opening up our store, though. The hard part was finished! Excited folks were coming in wearing our T-Shirts! We were in the news! We’d finally made it! Now we just had to turn the engine on and steer! Right?
We could never have expected the avalanche of challenges and opportunities, highs and lows, successes and failures that followed. We launched a booth at outdoor farmer’s markets, only to experience 47 days of rain in summer 2019. We worked through two years of disruptive construction on the street. We took other jobs to pay the Meuwly’s bills. We added locations, and closed them.
Oh, and apparently there was a global pandemic, followed by supply chain nightmares, skyrocketing inflation, ownership changes, two break-ins, and too many visits from the fire department when people saw our meat smoker’s exhaust and assumed the worst.
The past five years have been a non-stop adventure; despite the stress, pain, and uncertainty, we’re truly grateful to still be here!
Meuwly’s has been able to reinvest millions in the local economy since incorporation in 2016. We’ve employed dozens, purchased from countless local makers, and supported hundreds of fundraisers, initiatives and charities in the food security, education, and arts sectors. Our subscription box provided over 9,000 meals to local youth through the Mealshare program from 2017-2023. We’ve helped form “In The Weeds,” a hospitality mental health nonprofit.
We’ve been given an incredible opportunity to feed our community, to be creative, and to work with amazing people. And, we love what we do.
The fact we’ve survived five years is a testament to the passionate support of our local customers and dedication of our small-but-mighty team. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you all for helping us keep the dream alive. Thank you for choosing to spend a little more to support a local business that gives back. Thank you for sticking with your employer when nothing was certain, the days were stressful, and the grass was certainly greener elsewhere.
With time, comes evolution. We’ve parted ways with one of our co-founders, William. The business has since adapted out of necessity to be smaller, more agile, and (hopefully) more financially viable. You’ve likely noticed we’re making fewer meats in-house - it turns out, regardless of skill or passion, it’s just not feasible to keep 100+ high-quality products in stock using a kitchen like ours.
We’ve added more locally-produced goods to our shelves, responding to your many requests for more curated gourmet items. Local caterer Art of Charcuterie has also been located in our store since 2020. We’ve also now dedicated part of our kitchen space to local brands like Beb’s Bagels, Big G’s Jerky, and Lessig Ferments.
We started out as a meat brand, but we’ve realized we need to be more than that. As the remaining owners, our driving purpose is to build community - to incubate and champion other startups, to promote delicious local food, and to foster the types of meaningful experiences and relationships that make a community special.
You’ll see us offering more and more events, classes, and tasting experiences, both at Meuwly’s and at local venues. We love to be face-to-face with the people enjoying our creations. We love to share what we’ve learned, and provide hospitality. We love giving our team the chance to hear great feedback and to be recognized in-person for their talents.
So, we’ll keep creating, evolving, and listening to your feedback. We hope you’ll be along for the ride. Thank you, Edmonton, for a challenging, inspiring, amazing five years - here’s to five more!
- Pete & Glendon