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CRYSTAL LAKE – Behind the counter of cold cuts, Ken Kalck walked back and forth, preparing and packaging beef, pork and poultry for sale at his family-run Kalck's Butcher Shop.
Near the sign in the back that reads, “Good meat is not cheap; Cheap meat is not good!”, his daughter, Wendy Kotlowski, prepared to boil eggs, helping start another day at the local butcher shop in downtown Crystal Lake.
Like any other day at the office, the Kalck family was busy doing business at a brisk pace – an approach the Kalck family has used for the past 40 years at their butcher shop. But the shop’s customers truly have served as the driving force for the family, Ken Kalck said.
“We just try to provide the best of everything,” Kalck said. “I attribute the 40 years in business to the loyal customers who keep continuing to come into our store.”
In 1975, Kalck, now 73, and his wife, Barbara, were looking to own a butcher shop, after Ken Kalck started in the meat business at 16 years old. A purveyor pointed him to a butcher open to selling his shop at 71 E. Woodstock St. in Crystal Lake.
Once the couple acquired it, they remodeled and renovated the shop, adding the array of shelves that now hold the family’s gourmet products. Years later, Kotlowski and her sister, Melanie Roberts, entered the family business.
Kalck’s Butcher Shop started with its meat products. Cut daily, fresh and never frozen, the full variety of beef, along with various pork and poultry, still line the shop’s countertops 40 years later.
Kotlowski added her signature bakery goods – chocolate chip cookies, carrot cakes, banana bread – to the shop’s inventory. Roberts handles the shop’s gourmet section.
Customers also can buy ready-to-order sandwiches at the shop’s deli, along with homemade chicken and potato salads.
The salads always attract the customers, Ken Kalck said. They add to the family’s “famous” freshly ground beef, he said.
In the past 40 years, the shop has seen many changes, but customers have kept coming back, he said. The active business makes the time slip away.
“I have no idea where it went,” Kalck said.
To help mark the shop’s 40th anniversary, the Kalck family is planning a one-day anniversary sale July 11. The thanks to customers comes after Crystal Lake officials recognized the business for its 40 years during a City Council meeting in April.
“The sale is a way to give something to the customers,” Kotlowski said. “They’ve been shopping in the store forever, and we appreciate it.”
The Kalck’s Butcher Shop lowdown:
• Opened in 1975, the family run butcher shop serves fresh beef, pork and poultry products, homemade bakery goods, gourmet foods and a sandwich deli.
• Located at 71 E. Woodstock St., Crystal Lake, the shop operates Monday through Saturday. For more information, visit kalcksbutchershop.com or call 815-459-0016.