Twentieth century butcher shop stays relevant in Sussex County.
The Dagsboro Butcher Shop located in Dagsboro, Del. opened its doors to the public in the mid-sixties. Thirty years later, the Adam’s family purchased the shop from its original owners.
According to Mark Adams, his father was a farmer and after mastering his line of work, he decided to branch out. It was 1992 when Mark’s father purchased the butcher shop and shortly after, Mark’s wife, Betty Anne, stepped in to help.
After Mark’s father passed away in 2009, Mark decided it was time to retire from the phone company and help his wife out at the shop. Marks says he’s leaved a lot from his wife over the years.
“I learned after 40 years to trust my wife’s intuition on things, I basically do what she tells me,” Mark laughs. “She’s been in the business longer than myself. I do the heavy lifting, she does the smart lifting.”
The butcher shop, located at 27617 Dagsboro Rd., is easily recognizable — the front of the building, green in color, is covered with a large mural.
The Dagsboro Butcher Shop specializes in sausage, scrapple, beef, pork and poultry, although Mark says the crowd favorite is without a doubt, scrapple.
A selection of meats the Dagsboro Butcher Shop offers (Photo: Yelp)
The shop stays open all year round, seven days a week, only closing on New Years day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving day and Christmas day. Monday through Saturday Dagsboro Butcher Shop operates from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m and on Sunday, 10:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
During the tourist season, the shop will stay open later on Friday’s, Mark says.
“Our tourist market is great. Many of the tourists that come in tend to own places in the area. A lot of our customers are repeats…we have a very good customer loyalty.”
With Mark’s father opening up the business and his wife being involved from the very beginning, Mark hopes the business will remain in the family for generations to come.
Mark says the Dagsboro Butcher shop has taught him a lot over the years about owning and operating a business.
“I tell people the best part about owning your own business is that you get to make decisions. I tell them the worst part is you have to make decisions,” Mark laughs.
