Tuesday marked 40 years at The Deep Freeze for owner Kenneth Urich, whose first day of work on March 27, 1978, blossomed into a lifelong career. "It's like home," Urich said. "I'm here a lot more than home. I've tried to go out a couple of times and it just didn't feel good, so I came back and I've been here ever since."
Urich, who started with the company at 16-years-old, said the business has changed "a lot and not at all" through the years. At the time, The Deep Freeze was owned by Carl and Nadine Rommel and is now approaching its 70th year of business.
"Years ago, there was lots of butchering, all kinds of it, and very little retail sales, and it has reversed to a lot of retail sales and very little butchering," Urich said. "More people are shopping a meal at a time instead of packing their freezers full."
Urich said in 1978, Butler County had three true custom butcher shops, but since the mid-1980s, The Deep Freeze is the only that remains.
When Urich, along with his wife, Sandy, purchased The Deep Freeze in 1991, he said it was his goal to transition the business into "more of a specialty shop" by offering smoked meat and select foods to compete in a changing industry.
After successfully positioning the business as a specialty retailer, Urich said, he stopped processing meat in 2011 to focus solely on the continued growth of retail sales.
However, Urich recently began slaughtering in the shop once again, as, he said, the retail business has become consistent.
"At the pace our retail business was growing, and butchering was going down, I didn't think that I could handle both custom butchering and retail sales at the rapid pace it was going. So I stopped butchering and now it has leveled off to where I know what I can handle, so I've started taking on a small amount of butchering," Urich said.
Since December, Urich has been scheduling slaughtering appointments for beef and pork. He said aside from custom slaughtering, The Deep Freeze is "the only facility for 100 miles" which has the ability to scald and scrape hogs. It also offers lard rendering, and can create customized orders for customers.
"All my past slaughtering customers, and any new ones, are welcome to make an appointment," Urich said.
A vast supply of smoked meats and other specialty items, including hot dogs, barbecue, and frozen fare, continue to be available on a walk-in basis. Urich said he also will cut steaks to a customer's desired thickness.
Urich said one aspect that keeps The Deep Freeze, and his job, fresh year after year are the relationships he and his wife have created with their customers.
"We love our customers," Sandy said. "I'm not joking. They're the best customers. They're just like family. They come in here and you know all of them and we get new ones every day, but we get to know them, too."
The Deep Freeze is located at 1010 S. Westwood Blvd.