Brandon and Paul Hager are the fourth generation of family meatcutters, and they’ve hired a nephew to extend that accomplishment to a fifth generation.
The brothers operate S & S Meats in a building along Highway 2 on the west side of Grand Rapids. For many years S & S Meats operated in Cohasset, until a fire destroyed the building in 1999.
“Our dad, Stan, was not one to give up,” Brandon explained, “so after the fire he began looking for a new location. We bought Froggie’s Car Wash, and for a while operated the convenience store, car wash and gas station. Then, beginning in 2004, we began working to convert the building to a butcher shop,” continued Brandon. “That was a lot of work.”
The Hagers weren’t going to let something like a fire keep them from operating a lifelong family enterprise. Brandon and Paul’s great-great-grandfather began cutting meat in Dwight, North Dakota, seven miles from the Red River and the Minnesota border. Their grandfather worked for many years as the district manager for Red Owl, a large regional grocery store chain, but left that job to open a meat shop in Deer River, Minnesota.
“Our grandpa moved the business into the Old Country Store in Cohasset and then, three years later, moved the shop across Highway 2,” Brandon continued. “Our dad and mom, Stan and Dawn, got involved in the business there, and ran it successfully until the fire.”
Grand Rapids State Bank helped finance the relocation of the business after the fire. Now, years later, Brandon works with Nate Lloyd, GRSB’s vice president-commercial lending, an easy transition considering Nate grew up with Brandon.
“We knew each pretty well,” said Brandon. “We attended each other’s birthday parties as we were growing up. When it came time to arrange financing as my brother and I bought the business from our dad, Nate made the paperwork part of the transaction as painless as possible.”
Brandon and Paul have divided the work flow in a way that complemented their interests. Paul runs the fresh meat side of the operation—butchering and preparing the various cuts of meat for sale—while Brandon operates the smokehouse. They smoke turkeys, hams, bacon and more.
“Each phase of this operation takes different skills, and we complement one another well,” explained Paul. “And since it’s a family business, our wives, girlfriends and two nephews also work here routinely. The women do the packaging, run the till and manage the retail part of the store.
“Our dad used to do all of this himself,” he continued, “but as we’ve grown into a seven-day-a-week operation, we use all the family help we can get.”
The brothers have instilled a deep sense of customer service in everyone who works for the business. Recently one of the employees, Dylan Curtiss, received the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce’s Gold Star Customer Service award. Dylan’s interest in the meat business prompted him to get involved in FFA and participate in national agribusiness competitions.
“Everyone here understands that we need a good customer base to stay in business,” said Paul.
“There’s never a dull moment around here,” added Brandon. “We process 1,000 deer in fall and early winter, and we prepare 32,000 smoked products from that volume of animals. That takes us through March, and then we move on to the summer snack and grilling season. Our business has been pretty steady, and that’s a good thing for all of us.”