New Doug's Homestead location in South Okanagan readies for opening day | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Penticton News

New Doug's Homestead location in South Okanagan readies for opening day

It's been a long haul, but Brent and Linette McClelland are in the final stages of a major move to relocate Doug's Homestead artisan meat shop to Highway 97 in Kaleden.

KALEDEN - Doug’s Homestead co-owner Brent McLellend's story of a European customer who visited the meat shop helps illustrate how popular and far-reaching the rural butcher shop's reputation has become.

“Last year we had a German couple come in. They told us they were in a cafe somewhere in Germany when a Dutch couple overheard them talking about an imminent trip to Canada they were making," McLellend says.

"This other guy gets up from his table and says, 'listen, if you’re travelling through Canada and you start on the west coast, you have to hit this one little meat shop called Doug’s Homestead, you’ll love it. They came here, they told us that story, and a couple of months later a Dutch couple came walking through the door."

Brent and Lisette McLelland are in the final stages of an extensive renovation of the former Kaleden Restaurant into of the new location of Doug’s Homestead, about six kilometres south of Penticton on Highway 97.

On a more local level, McLellend believes his customers appreciate the quality of Doug’s Homestead’s meats as well as enjoying the shopping experience.

"We make it fun, we make it entertaining. I believe our customer service is hands down, the best there is. We’re very meticulous on who we staff and we get people from all over the world calling us, emailing us and coming through our door,” he says.

The McClellands doubled their cooling capacity in the new facility with a cavernous new walk in cooler.
The McClellands doubled their cooling capacity in the new facility with a cavernous new walk in cooler.

A lot of seniors enjoy stopping at Doug's, recalling the days of the local meat shop, knowing things are being made and taken care of in-house.

“When you’re a small business owner, you have to take pride in everything you make,” he says. "People who work for us have the same pride as Linette and I.”

Doug’s Homestead will continue to sell nine flavours of pepperoni and the beef jerky the business has become known for.

“People will be surprised, but our number one item sold is bacon,” he says.

“It’s been a busy six months, from finding a new location, to purchasing a new location to cleaning out an existing restaurant and refit it into a butcher shop and deli to selling our house, to uprooting our family to a new community where the kids are making new friends in a new school, to doing 24 hour a day renovations, seven days a week,” McLellend says.

Doug’s Homestead's roots began on Highway 3 just outside of Hedley back in the early 1990s when butcher Doug Stricker began the deli operation.

McLellend and his wife, originally from the Lower Mainland, stopped at the business and became interested in the shop in 2007. McLellend worked for a time apprenticing with Stricker before negotiating a deal to purchase the business, and that's when Linette joined the operation.

He says they looked at the operation at the end of last season and realized it was outgrowing the Hedley location.

“It was bittersweet, we didn’t want to see the business move, but knew it had to,” he says.

“I can’t lie, I’m nervous about what might happen. Everyone knew us down there. Now we’re definitely a smaller fish in a larger pond,” McLellend says as opening day in Kaleden approaches.

The Homestead’s new facility offers some improvements in workspace, as the premises are about twice the size of the Hedley operation.

“We have had some days where we sold out of products within a couple of hours in the day. People are used to a limitless supply of product from grocery chains, but quality takes time. People ask me, 'well why don’t you make more?' If it were that easy,” McLellend says.

He says a "couple of hiccups” with renovations has delayed the originally scheduled opening from March 1 to a tentative date on the Easter long weekend.

"We really want to get open. There’s only so much we can do, though. Everything takes time,” McLellend says.

“If there’s a light in the window that says we’re open, come on in.”

Doug's Homesteads artisan meats has become an internationally known destination, receiving emails and photos from international customers.
Doug's Homesteads artisan meats has become an internationally known destination, receiving emails and photos from international customers.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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