ABOUT OUR MANUFACTURERS - JV (MACK'S)
JV Jerky Manufactured at Mack's Grocery
Mack's packs tradition in
family-owned grocery. . .
By Jody Spreng, Country Living, May 2002
What's not to like about Mack's Food Center & Locker of Lodi - the family-owned-and-operated
business that offers its customers fresh meats, imported wines and cheeses,
plenty of conveniences and service with a smile? About the only thing not
to like is that there isn't a Mack's in everyone's hometown. Mack's Food Center
is nothing short of a Medina County landmark. In operation since 1956, Mack's
was owned and operated by Ted and Bobbie Mack, with Bobbie's brother-in-law
and sister, Dave and Kate Vanni,
joining the operation one year later. The business originally opened as a
grocery store and
slaughterhouse. The slaughter plant ceased operations more than 30 years ago,
but Mack's still prides itself in offering fresh provisions that carry the
old-fashioned quality that
Mack's customers enjoy. Mack's is now under the leadership of the Vanni's
son,
John, and his partner of 12 years, Patty Boesel. Kate, now 84, and Dave, 82,
still stop in occasionally to review business activities. "Mack's is
family owned and we all operate it together," John said, who began working
at the store as a pop bottle sorter when he was a mere 8 years old.
Mack's has a large following of regular customers and lures in out-of-towners passing through Lodi on U.S. 224. Folks can't help but be impressed that all the employees are always wearing a smile. In fact, most have been with Mack's for so long that they have watched their customers grow from tots to teens to beyond.
Meat cutter Clifford Reece has been with Mack's for 50 years and Rob Brooks came to Mack's some 30 years ago when she was only 16. She joins 21 other employees at the store and is the manager of the store's produce department.
At Mack's customers can enjoy the conveniences of movie rentals, household gadgets, lottery tickets, fax and copy machines and a place where folks even can buy a postage stamp. There are books and magazines to buy, a cooler filled with floral bouquets and every other item that anyone ever could need. Mack's reputation, however, was not built around conveniences but the quality meats that always have been offered to its customers. "We have fresh-cut meats and hams, bacon, smokies and beef jerky," noted John, who explained that on any given day Mack's has available hand-carved or ground meats that are carefully wrapped and stored in shiny display cases for the customers' choosing. Carol Holly of Lodi is situated behind the meat counter and is always on hand to help the customer.
In addition to steaks and chops, Mack's offers homemade jerky that is produced in an adjacent building- a federal meat plant that bears the name J.V. Jerky. The smokehouse pumps out well over 1,000 pounds of special recipe beef jerky a week, which is then sold locally and shipped across the United States. This is a venture that John sees growing in the future.
Mack's has to be among the
few remaining stores that offers zero degree meat storage - 500 individual
lockers all available to rent for the customer who doesn't have a
deep freezer of their own. And, by the way, customers also can purchase a
locally grown side of beef from Mack's to put in a storage locker. "We
sell a lot of freezer beef," John said. "Whatever our customers
want, we can get it." The friendships offered by a good-humored John
and an organized Pat are free for the taking and obviously appreciated as
Pat is summoned from her work to spend time with a customer.
"Mack's is very community minded," Pat said. "We've been able
to continue what the Macks started and Kate and Dave built on. Big stores
do not offer the one-on-one feeling with their customers. Here we are one
big family serv-ing the community."
For those downtown Lodi residents who enjoy shopping at Mack's, they no longer
will have to travel U.S. 224 to get some of the store's offering. The business
is expanding
its operations through the April opening of Mack's Mini Mart. John also is
in the planning stages of turning the former Shady Glen lounge into a catering
business.
Although John's original plans following graduation from Cloverleaf High School
didn't include running Mack's Food Center & Locker, all things change
with time.
"When I was young I didn't want to stay in Lodi, but now I would never
leave,"
he offered smiling, satisfied.
 |