Though operating for more than a month now, The Meat Locker held its official ribbon cutting last Friday, jointly hosted by the Eatonton-Putnam Chamber of Commerce and its Baldwin-based counterpart.
Co-owned by husband-and-wife partners Darin and Lisa Simmons, The Meat Locker offers a variety of fresh, Georgia-grown specialty meats, including sausage prepared on-site by The Meat Locker butchers, as well as homemade casseroles and hot, daily-smoked meats.
The store also provides a selection of seafood, basic groceries including Georgia-grown fruits and vegetables, as well as a wide variety of specialty jams, jellies, and honey. It also offers breakfast and lunch options to go, baked goods, a small selection of wine and beer, and even a few oils, lotions, and soaps.
Initially from Watkinsville, after buying a home on Lake Sinclair about 15 years ago, Darin Simmons said his family decided to move to Putnam County full-time last May to build the new store from scratch.
“Down south where we’re from, this kind of store is everywhere and all of them seem to do pretty good,” Simmons explained. “So, when we started coming up here, I couldn’t believe there wasn’t anything like this here because almost everybody we know comes to the lake and grills and cooks out. So, I just figured it would be a good fit.”
Though it’s a beacon destination in the countryside, Simmons said he specifically chose the Pea Ridge Road location because it’s not far off Hwy. Research showed that it’s the most heavily trafficked road in Putnam County, and it’s within relatively easy reach of Eatonton, Milledgeville, and Greensboro.
However, the formerly heavily wooded lot that The Meat Locker now sits upon proved challenging to prepare for construction, Simmons said.
“We live fairly nearby, so I drive past here all the time. So, I bought this lot sight unseen, and when I saw it after it was clear-cut, I almost had to stop and throw up,” he admitted. “It basically looked like a cliff off the side of the road. We had to move about 11,000 yards of dirt.”
Regardless, there is plenty of flat space for parking now, and Simmons stressed he couldn’t be happier with The Meat Locker’s location and his family’s decision to move to Lake Country full time.
“I’ve never been anywhere in my life and worked for people in a community like this where people are coming in and paying you and telling you, ‘Thank you.’ Think about that; what a great place to be.
“This is a family-owned and operated store, and really, we want to get to know everybody individually, know their name, know what they bought the last time they were in,” Simmons continued. “So that’s kind of what it’s all about. I want it to be a close-knit place for everyone, nothing corporate.”
The Meat Locker (182 Pea Ridge Rd. SE, Eatonton) is open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.