Longstanding Colorado butcher shop receives support amid plans to close

A butcher shop in the Denver metro area that's more than 80 years old sliced its last cut of meat this week. It's a bittersweet end to the business that one community is sad to see close its doors. 

Shoppers who walk inside the doors at Wheat Ridge Poultry and Meats might find themselves walking away with much more than quality meat products.  

"I've been coming here since I bought my house in 1997," said customer Chris Pierson. "Mainly because the steak is good."

It is also the relationships they've built with the team behind the counter that keep some coming back.

"You get to know these guys; you get to know the people here. We know them by name, they know us by name, they're like friends," said Jessica Bobitsky.

Bobitsky and her husband took over the butcher shop in 2015, a business that has been a part of the Weat Ridge community since 1942.

"We really wanted to bring back that neighborhood butcher," she said.

Together, the couple has also been giving back to the community via their work with local food pantries and donations.

"Unfortunately, the last few years have been pretty difficult," said Bobitsky.

Bobitsky says sales have already dropped more than 60% since this time last year. Yet, it is medical expenses from ongoing health challenges, followed by the death of her husband, that have taken the biggest toll on her.

"It's just at that boiling point right now," she said. "With everything else going on, I didn't want to deal with anything. I couldn't deal with it. I couldn't think about things."

That boiling point came to a head on May 12, when Bobitsky made a social media post announcing the butcher shop would close for good after May 14, encouraging people to stop by that Wednesday and shop their remaining inventory before doors closed.

"We're just clearing out inventory now, because we don't have any food to go to waste," she said.

She never could have imagined the outcome on Wednesday, when Bobitsky tells CBS Colorado there was a line wrapped around the building with customers an hour before they officially opened. Throughout the day, business kept booming with people eager to support the business.

"This is probably the busiest day since probably 2021," she said. "You can sense that they're sad that we're not going to be here."

Shoppers like Pierson were hoping their support could help boost the store's chances of staying open.

"I'm crossing my fingers that it makes it," he said.

In the wake of this week's announcement to close, however, people in the community refused to lose this longstanding business without a fight.

"When people started donating money, I was like, 'This is wonderful.' It's nice to feel that love and that appreciation," said Bobitsky.

As people continue to help Bobitsky and her staff crowdfund, she feels more hopeful that they may be able to reopen the shop in the future.

"We have nine employees who kept this place going for the time I couldn't deal with things," she said. "I'm hoping I can keep them with a job."