Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
January 18, 2007 issue
Boone Meat Center—Meat, Cheese, Sauces and Spices for 21 Years
Story by Sam Calhoun
France has the boucher and the boucherie, Spain has the carnicero and the carniceria, Italy has the macellaio and the macelleria and Boone has Mike Hedrick and the Boone Meat Center.
For 21 years, Hedrick has supplied the High Country with more meat, cheese, spices and sauces than you can shake a spatula at and he’s done it all from his cozy confines at 282 Highway 105 Extension in Boone.
Hedrick can get customers any kind of meat imaginable. Aside from his usual stock of steaks, ribeyes, pork, poultry and hambones, he can order buffalo, elk, ostrich and boar, to name a few. And he’s got seafood too. From mahi-mahi to tuna steaks, from salmon to tilapia, from shrimp to snapper, Hedrick’s got the sea covered almost as well as he’s got the land.
In addition, dozens of hot sauces from all over the world line one wall of the center, accompanied by a handy key that measures the degree of spiciness with a scale from 1 to 10+++.
Not into spice? Hedrick also carries a host of barbecue sauces from all over the country to satisfy any preference, as well as multiple marinades made for specific meats he sells in his store.
Hedrick—who is helped at the center by two employees, Frank Guy and Jess Styles—orders meat from “everywhere” and prides himself on being able to track down “any kind of meat.” If a customer calls with a unique request Hedrick is happy to track it down.
Most of his business is retail but he does supply a few local restaurants. He enjoys seeing his customers on a daily basis and feels that his secret of survival for 21 years has been putting the customer first.
His message to the public is to buy local.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s at Boone Meat Center or anywhere else, just buy local,” said Hedrick.
Hedrick was born and raised in Boone. A 1973 graduate of Watauga High School, Hedrick played football and baseball. After graduation, he ran a local trucking company before getting into the meat business. Fifteen years ago, he married his wife Delores and the couple has raised three children—Jack, 20, Laura, 18, and Jonathan 12.
Although Hedrick has been in business for 21 years, he never had a grand opening, so this spring he’s finally getting around to hosting the celebration.
“We’re going to make a little noise,” he said.
The grand opening will mark the coming of spring when Boone Meat Center ups its offerings of meat to include “anything you want,” said Hedrick. The grand opening will also serve as the debut of the first Boone Meat Center website, www.boonemeatcenter.com, where customers will be able to shop online for everything available in the store.
Beyond the spring, Hedrick plans to operate his business as usual, while trying to improve and keep up with the times as much as possible.
“We’ve been blessed,” said Hedrick. “We’ve managed to pay the house payments, the car payments and raise three kids, so it’s been pretty good I guess.”
Boone Meat Center is located at 282 Highway 105 Extension in Boone and is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. The center is closed on Wednesday and Saturday. In the spring, the Boone Meat Center will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed on Sunday. Also in the spring, the Boone Meat Center website will debut at www.boonemeatcenter.com. For more information, call 828-264-3416 or email boonemeatcenter@bellsouth.net.