A drive through Terminal Park shopping centre and a glance at an empty store up for lease was the humble beginning of one of the most popular meat shops in Nanaimo.
‘We had talked about opening our own shop, looked at the store and said ‘let’s try it’,” said Ingrid Nesvog, who along with her husband, Arnold, owns Nesvog’s Meats and Sausage Company.
That was seven years ago, and the couple, who once had the contract for meat service at the Mid Island Co-op on Bowen Road, hasn’t looked back.
Starting with one employee and themselves, the Nesvogs have built the shop into a booming business with 28 workers, offering cuts of steak, pork and chicken, meat pies, numerous flavours of sausage, turkey and beef burger patties, and the sauces and seasonings to accent any choice of meat.
And don’t forget the deli.
In fact, Nesvog’s Meats topped the list for best deli this year in the News Bulletin’s Best of the City.
As to why the store, which went through a major expansion in September, won the hearts of Best of the City voters, Ingrid has two explanations.
“It’s a great staff and customer service,” she said. “I tell everyone we hire to treat the people coming in the door as if they were company,” she said.
Lance Van has shopped at Nesvog’s Meats since it opened, dropping by nearly every day.
“The personal customer service in this place is unmatched,” he said. “The place is kept clean, the quality of the deli is excellent and the staff is the best.”
Ingrid said it’s key to make customers feel they are the most important people the staff will see that day.
“If someone has a special order and asks, we will try our hardest to make it happen,” she said. “I know we work hard, but holy cow, we never expected this when we opened. We are truly blessed.”
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