Photo by Jesse Chambers.
Jim Moeller is the owner and operator of New York Butcher Shoppe in The Heights Village Shopping Center in Vestavia Hills. He is planning to open a second location in the Cadence Place shopping center on Cahaba Valley Road.
Jim Moeller, owner of New York Butcher Shoppe in The Heights Village Shopping Center, really enjoys his business.
“I’m having a blast,” he said. “I have a great group of guys on our team, and most important are the customers. They’re more like friends. And we get so many repeat customers, they feel like family.”
Moeller has operated the store — one of nine New York Butcher Shoppe locations in the Southeast — since 2010, selling all types of fresh meat, including certified Angus beef. He offers speciality items, such as cheeses, exotic sausages and international grocery items.
There’s a wide variety of prepared foods, from beef roasts and veal parmesan to baked potatoes and quiches. And the store, with the feel of an old-fashioned neighborhood grocery, offers a wide selection of red and white wines.
“I’m having a lot of fun,” Moeller said.
In fact, he’s having so much fun that he’s opening a second location in the Cadence Place shopping center on Cahaba Valley Road and hopes to be in operation by early April.
Moeller is opening the new location of New York Butcher Shoppe because he wants “to continue to grow a great idea and a great concept” he said. “It also gives me a chance to give some employment to some more people.”
The new storefront, measuring 1,750 square feet, once housed the old Medaus Pharmacy, according to Moeller. “They’re splitting it up into several smaller spaces,” he said.
Moeller became a New York Butcher Shoppe franchisee in 2010 when he sought a career change after 25 years in the wastewater industry. The franchise was attractive, at least in part, because Jim Tindal — a co-owner of the chain — is one of Moeller’s lifelong friends. “We grew up together,” Moeller said.
Moeller, who graduated from The University of Alabama in the 1980s, saw an opportunity for the South Carolina-based franchise. “Birmingham has a lot of educated foodies, and I felt we could fill a niche,” he said.
It’s been “a total blessing” to be in Cahaba Heights, Moeller said. “The community has really good people, plus we pull from Mountain Brook, Vestavia, Liberty Park.”
“We were very fortunate to get this spot,” said Moeller, who added that New York Butcher Shoppe is “very picky” about where it plants new stores.
The new location at Cadence Place has a lot of positives, according to Moeller. “It has a neat village look to it,” he said. “We liked the tenant mix. It has a good location and good access. And it’s not too far away from Highway 280.”
The new store will be almost exactly like the old store.
“We’re a certified Angus beef retailer,” he said, adding that the quality standards for Angus meats — including how the animals are raised, fed and treated — are “extremely high.”
Popular sellers at the meat counter include the Angus beef prime filet and ribeye and premium cuts of pork and chicken. The shop’s ground beef is made from steak trims. “You get a phenomenal hamburger,” Moeller said.
Popular prepared dishes include lasagna, chicken pot pie and meatloaf, which is also made from steak trims..
Moeller also offers his own smoked meats, including chicken wings.
“We’re a one-stop dinner shop,” he said.
Moeller also bragged on the traditional New York deli-style sandwiches — including corned beef, pastrami, prosciutto and salami — that have made the store a popular spot for lunchtime take-out.
“They are big,” he said. “There is close to a pound of meat.”
