J & B Butcher Shop: Specialty Store to Open in Stoneham Square

In our fast-paced world we have all grown accustomed to the hustle of the crowd-inducing aisles of supermarkets and mega stores. The convenience of one-stop shopping continues to have an addictive appeal to most of us who consider the basic need to gather provisions as just one more hectic chore on our to-do lists. We fight our way to the four corners of vast stores that house all our needs within the available square footage.

However, there is still the undeniable draw to a simpler time, a simplicity that often comes in the form of the specialty shop. The extra time we take to make that additional stop is often enough to allow us the pleasure to claim a small parcel of time out of the busy day for ourselves. It forces us to pause and appreciate the process as well as the means to the end.

By virtue of allowing the extra time to stop at a local shop, a consumer takes the extra care involved in choosing quality products and participates more fully in the experience.

At one time, it was within the four corners of a town square that most of our needs were met. That is still true in many town centers today, especially as the need for more authentic and grassroots economic and social interactions increase.

Stoneham Square is still one such town center that provides an array of goods and services to its public, maintaining  the quaint appeal of simpler times while presenting well-situated alternatives to driving farther than Franklin and Main Streets.

By the end of March, Stoneham Square will round out its potential even further with the addition of J & B Butcher Shop, 3 Central St., on the ground floor, corner unit of the Dow Block building across from . The very presence of the Butcher Shop will immediately allow locals the opportunity to enhance their shopping experience from mundane to meaningful.

“We’re entirely family owned and operated,” said Bobby Ward, owner of J & B Butcher Shop in Stoneham. “We employ close friends and relatives and we intend to make every interaction with our customers a personal one.”

With two other J & B Butcher Shops, each owned by a different Ward brother, located in East Hampstead, NH and Tewksbury, the Stoneham shop will continue to provide the products and services that have made the other two stores a success.

“I started working as a butcher about 15 years ago at The Prime Butcher in Windam, NH,” Ward said. “Then I worked with my brothers at our other locations. I wanted to start my own shop and Stoneham was an ideal spot to do that.”

The Butcher Shop, in addition to the high quality meat, pork and poultry, will also provide an array of homemade-style prepared foods, such as marinated meats, salads, and sauces.

“We will offer all Boarshead Deli meats,” Ward said, “and selling, made-to-order sandwiches to our customers, as well as having many catering options available.”

Most importantly, the Butcher Shop will offer its expertise and, therefore, complete the allure of having a quality merchant available at such a local and convenient location. Appreciating the process of buying a perfectly butchered leg of lamb for that last-minute get together or a flavorful ribeye steak you decide to treat yourself to can only be realized with the focused attention you get from a professional butcher.

“We’re always open to our customers’ questions,” Ward said. “They often bring in recipes that call for cuts of meat they’re not too familiar with. We can tell them exactly what they need and how much of it they should buy.

"Everything can be cut to exactly what a customer wants.”

For more information, visit the J & B Butcher website.