The Rock Butchery has reopened, with a former apprentice taking over. Photo: Supplied.
The Rock Butchery has reopened its doors after being closed for six months, with one of the store’s former apprentices taking over.
The town was devastated when it lost its last remaining meat retailer, forcing residents to make a half-hour drive to Wagga for their steaks, lamb and sausages.
But they can now shop local again, thanks to Liam Golds.
“The Rock has a predominantly older community. It’s hard for them to go all the way into town and come all the way back,” he said.
“Now that we’ve got the IGA here and a butchery again, they can just do all their little tiny shops and go straight back home, and a lot easier for them and easier for the community.
The 21-year-old started his apprenticeship at The Rock Butchery six years ago before travelling to Albury for work.
However, when the former owners put the shop up for sale, Liam and his family made the brave decision to move back to his hometown and take the reins.
The butchery reopened its doors on Thursday (26 November) in what Mr Golds described as a full circle moment.
“I lived in The Rock for 12 years and pretty much did all of my apprenticeship here,” he said.
“I was living in Albury-Wodonga at the time, and this opportunity came along. I thought really hard about it, spoke to my family and my partner, and we decided it was a pretty good idea.
“We jumped on the opportunity and have spent the last three months preparing for it, and now we’re at opening day.
“It still feels pretty surreal, like I started as a wash-up kid and then got qualified. Six years later, and we’re here.”
The Rock butchery was known for its flavoursome snags. Photo: Facebook.
Mr Golds said it was a tricky decision to return to The Rock after starting a life in Albury, but admitted the opportunity of owning his own store was too good to pass up.
“It was a little bit difficult because I’ve got a house and stuff up there, but it was just too good an opportunity to sort of not want to come back down and come back home,” he said.
“I enjoyed my time up in Albury; it was fun working at the shop, and they really helped me out in the process of reopening the butchery.”
A day into trading Luke had customers thanking him for reopening the store.
“I’ve had a lot of customers come in to see me again, shake my hand and say congratulations, all that sort of stuff,” he said.
“I think they’ve all realised that it’s easier, it’s just a really good thing to have a local butcher. It’s been really nice to have all the support so far, and I’m excited to see how it all goes.”
The Rock Butchery is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 6 pm and Saturdays from 8 am to 1 pm.
“If anyone walks past and sees me in the shop, no matter what time, feel free to knock on the window and come on in,” he said.
