New Year, Same Joe's!
We welcome 2021 with the same enthusiasm as you.Our hope is that during 2021 we can return to some sense of normal. While we look forward to the new year, it would be short sighted of us not to recognize the successes and trials of 2020. In a time where local businesses have struggled, we at Joe’s thrived because of your support and for that, THANK YOU! With restaurants closing or having limited hours meant that you increased the number of meals you ate at home and in turn increased your shopping with Joe’s.
Our local farmers and suppliers responded to your needs leaving Joe’s with ample supplies of hormone and antibiotic free meats while large groceries struggled to fill their aisles. Our staff of 43, both full and part time workers, responded to your needs by helping us implement our COVID protocols such as social distancing and ensuring masks were worn early on in the game. Our staff also responded by maintaining COVID protocols outside the workplace resulting in not a single case of employee COVID nor any contact tracing of cases attributable to Joe’s to date. The results were a well-supplied and healthy store front that was open and available for your needs.
Your response was amazing! We cannot count the number of compliments you gave us for our methods. You consistently let us that you felt safe shopping at Joe’s and showed it with your trust and increased purchases. Those increased purchases on the butcher shop side of Joe’s allowed us to fully employ our deli/sandwich/catering side at Joe’s Next Door which saw reduced business during this time. Your increased support meant that 7 families were able to meet their needs in a time where without it, they would have been let go.
Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. We know that you have options when it comes to shopping, and for 15 years, you have made the choice to shop with us. We cherish your trust and value every opportunity to serve you.
As we start our 16th year in business it would be remiss of us not to recognize the many changes that have occurred during the last 15 years. We have expanded our physical space TWICE in order to supply our customers with increased products and services.
When we started it was just me (Joe) and the head butcher Fritz, behind the counter. We added Fritz’s wife Sally, and then long-time employee Ian to our team. We have grown steadily to have a full-time staff of 18 that includes our store manager Rebecca, customer service specialists Kevin, Austin, Elissa, Anthony, Libby, and Josie. Our head chef Jason, purchasing manager Karen, lead cashier Annie, head butchers Jeff and Brian, journeymen butchers Kyle and Sean, and sous chefs Billy, John, Gerhard, and Brittany. In addition, we employ the part time help of 25+ fantastic individuals lead by longtime Saturday morning favorite, Jerry. This is in addition to high school students from Carmel and Guerin Catholic and seasonal help from college students attending IU, Purdue, Notre Dame, Miami University, the University of Dayton and Johnson & Wales. Our former employees, many of which are our customers children, have moved on to become Sales Managers, Logistics Managers, Business Analysts, Consultants, with two in medical school and one Anesthesiologist resident.
In terms of product, we have grown substantially. We have increased our healthy offerings of sustainable seafood and poultry. We have added Indiana raised whole carcass dry aged beef and cabinet dry aged beef to our lineup. We moved our sourcing of pork, chicken and dry aged beef to 100% Indiana farmers dedicated to the latest techniques in animal husbandry and sustainability. We have increased our gourmet grocery items to add to your protein buying experience. We offer an award-winning line of gourmet sandwiches, fantastic choices for drop off catered events and a group of homemade scratch deli sides. In 2020 we opened Apron, our dine in spot for lunch. When the opportunity presents itself post COVID protocols, our plan is to host wine dinners and other subscription food events in this space.
For sure, it has been an eventful 15 years. Our promise to you is that we will approach the oncoming years with the same passion for great food with desire to keep top-of-mind modern and current trends. In that regard we strive to:
- Provide a diverse selection of the highest-quality meats and ingredients along with top-notch service
- Respect our employees and the dignity of their work, providing them with fair pair pay, benefits, and valuable business and leadership skills they will carry beyond their time at Joe’s
- Cherish our natural resources by supporting environmentally responsible, sustainable suppliers and local farmers
- Give back to the community that we love and that has supported us by responding to the needs of the less fortunate in central Indiana
It is our hope that by operating under these principles, we retain your trust and loyalty for the next 15 years and that you feel excited to share your positive Joe’s experience with others in our community.
Thank you for your support through 2020 and over 15 fantastic years!
With sincerest appreciation,
Kathy, Joe, Max (24), JT (22) and Hank (20) Lazzara