From our beginning on a cold and snowy winter day in January of 1955 until now, 70 years later, Butcher Boy has been woven into the fabric of our neighborhoods and surrounding Merrimack Valley communities.

Even before Butcher Boy opened, the Yameen and Maroun families had an established history as a part of the U-Save Market on Broadway and the Thrift on South Union St. in Lawrence. Their first Butcher Boy store was located on a dirt road in Salem, NH, on what is now Route 28. Even back then it was a well-traveled thoroughfare between Boston and New Hampshire. It was a different time when everything in our meat case was priced at under $1/lb and families enjoyed daily homecooked meals. And who could forget our iconic refrigerator “Bake-O-Meter” that would spin to give home cooks the correct oven temperatures and how long to cook each cut of meat? Long before the internet, we were proud to be the go-to for cooking tips in this region!

It wasn’t long before our reputation for customer service and offering the highest quality meats was well established. Many of our customers visited us daily for the freshest ingredients. Others stopped by on their way to the Lakes region or other vacation destinations. As one of the few businesses open on Route 28 in those early days, we welcomed the thousands who passed by on their way to the Rockingham Race track or chose to do their weekly shopping on a Sunday when the Massachusetts stores were all closed due to the blue laws.

As the Merrimack Valley grew and evolved, so did Butcher Boy. We added a second store in a wooden building in North Andover in 1960, replacing what was formerly O’Keefe’s Country Store. At that time, North Andover was more farming than commercial. In fact, this particular neighborhood was almost named Stanleyville, and today you can find a boulder behind our current location with “Stanleyville” etched in it as a permanent reminder.

Did you know that our families also were in the restaurant business? In 1965 we opened the Butcher Boy Steakhouse in North Andover across the street from our store. It was known not just for its delicious steaks, but for its large open hearth and piano bar. Later, we opened a second Butcher Boy Steakhouse in Nashua, NH. After years of running restaurants in addition to our stores, we decided to focus on our core Butcher Boy Market business. Although the restaurants are closed, the good memories are so strong that people in the community still ask us to bring them back.

In the 1980s we made the decision to expand in North Andover. It took nearly a decade to realize that goal, but after over forty years in Salem, we completed our Osgood Street market and plaza project and relocated there in 1996.

Throughout the past seventy years, our story as an independent service business has been one of deep community roots, service, and strong growth. As we look back on how far we’ve come, we look forward to serving our customers’ next generations in the Merrimack Valley and beyond.

Help us celebrate 70 years in the community! Do you remember shopping at Butcher Boy in one of our first locations or did you enjoy dining at one of our steakhouses? We’d love to hear from you – share your Butcher Boy stories as we proudly celebrate seven decades of tradition.

Please follow and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram in our year of celebrating!

Thursday, January 27, 1955, was a typical winter day in Salem, New Hampshire—cold and snowy. It also marked the opening day of Butcher Boy. Despite the weather, people from across the Merrimack Valley bundled up in coats, hats, and boots, to visit the new store. Behind the counter, Bill Yameen worked alongside Evon, Ken, Dan, Tom, and Joyce, ready to welcome their first customers.

Who could have predicted on that first day in 1955 that seventy years later we would still be here, family-owned and operated by the Yameen and Maroun family, going strong in North Andover? While we have evolved with the times, we have never wavered from our principles – to provide quality, value, and service while promoting local purveyors and serving as a valued community partner, providing jobs, and supporting local initiatives.

In those first years, Route 28 was a dirt road in Salem, but it led many from Boston to New Hampshire.  Massachusetts’ Blue Laws then in place meant that stores were closed on Sundays, so many of our customers made the regular Sunday pilgrimage to Butcher Boy in Salem, NH, to do their weekly shopping.

We want to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated staff and customers, many of whom have shopped here for generations. We appreciate you making us a part of your everyday, special occasions, and holiday celebrations for the past 70 years. Over the coming months we will be featuring special memories and reflections on our business over seven decades. We invite you to be a part of this milestone celebration by sharing your Butcher Boy stories.

Have you been a long-time customer, or a cashier or clerk? Are you part of a family who may have been coming to us since you were a child? If so, what are those early memories? Just email us at info@butcherboymarket.com and we may feature your story in an upcoming newsletter.

Please follow and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram in our year of celebrating!

We love being in the Merrimack Valley and supporting other businesses in the communities we serve. We understand the value small businesses bring to our towns and cities — in the form of jobs, revenue, and personal connections. That’s why we also love highlighting some of our neighbors and companies whose products we are proud to offer at Butcher Boy.

Pita bread from Korbani’s Bakery is like no other. For more than 30 years, the Korbani family has been making traditional Middle Eastern bread in Methuen. Mary, her daughter Kristen Korbani, and family are continuing the tradition. Look for fresh, local Korbani pita bread at Butcher Boy.

The story of pierogi from Jaju goes back even further. The family business began seven decades ago in western Massachusetts, where Vanessa White and her sister Casey grew up learning to cut, stuff, and seal the Polish food staple. The women brought their grandfather’s recipes for pierogi to our area in 2015 and have since perfected both traditional and creative pierogi flavors for their New England customers who crave a pierogi fix that doesn’t taste mass-produced. Jaju’s pierogi are made from scratch in Lynn and can be found in a variety of flavors at Butcher Boy ready to cook in your own kitchen.

Arcade Snacks has built a solid reputation for sweet and savory varieties, including nuts, dried fruit, candy, and chocolate. It’s another family business nearly 40 years in the making. Founders George and Ann Ethier focused on quality and expanded from roasting cashews to an assortment of confections available in the finest hotels, restaurants, and retailers – including Butcher Boy. Today, their sons Rick Haufe and T.J. Ethier and their team remain committed to satisfying your snack cravings.

Visit Butcher Boy to try out any of these products or the others we have featured before. We know shopping local matters.