Devon McDougall did not imagine himself working at his grandfather’s business, David’s Meat Market, into adulthood.
“I fought it,” he said. “I tried not to and I went to work in Rockwall at Carraba’s and I worked at the Melting Pot in Adison…I wasn’t making the money I needed, and I needed a more consistent schedule so I ended up over here working for them again in 2007. It was the best failure to launch I could have ever hoped for.”
This summer, upon founder David Harris’ retirement, McDougall bought the store. It’s a fitting outcome considering his background.
“My mom worked here when she was a teenager and again after she divorced my father. Most of my clients who have been shopping here for a long time met me in a meat box as an infant. I used to sleep back here [in the office] in a meat box that was cut open. When I was too big for one, they put two of them together,” McDougall said.
He began his career at the age of two in a high chair that clipped onto the block.
“When I was about two I started helping my grandmother stamp package
s. When I got older I did other jobs here,” he said. “When I was 12 they handed me my first knife and that’s when I started learning how to cut.”
Harris has 13 grandchildren and several have worked at the market at one time or another but his grandson Caylor Bratcher has worked there continually for five years. McDougall said that the great crew is one of the keys to their success.
“We have people who know what’s going on and they know what they’re doing,” he said. That’s what our customers expect.”
When Harris started the business in 1982, there were about 15 butcher shops in a 10-mile radius. Only four or five are left in DFW.
The market makes no attempt to compete with the big-box stores. They are more concerned about quality than the bottom line.
“We decided a long time ago that we wanted to give our customers quality, the best, and make sure that they know when they come here they are getting a quality product,” McDougall said. “We’re unapologetic about that.”
Their attention to service is one of the reasons for their success. They take the time to visit with customers and tell them how to cook items and their best advertising has always been word of mouth.
Numerous customers come in regularly and David’s Meat Market is a popular store in Garland and the entire Dallas area. Customers come from Richardson, Allen, McKinney, Frisco and other cities because they’ve heard about the market from a friend, neighbor or co-worker. Once they come in and experience the customer service and taste the quality of the product, they come back again and again.
The market is located in City Council District 7 and Council Member Scott Lemay is a regular customer. He said that he is amazed that a stand-alone market has survived in the age of large grocery store chains but he knows why it has.
“It has survived purely on product quality and customer service – not on location, not on history – but because they sell a great product and when you walk in the people who work there greet you and ask if they can help you,” Lemay said.
Customers asked McDougall if he would be changing the store’s name. His answer is “It’s not broken so there’s no need to fix it.”
“My grandfather built an incredible legacy and I’m happy that I have a chance to expand on what he did,” he said. “I hope that one day it will be more than just one store.”
The market also sells 17 different kinds of sausage. All sausage is hand twisted and there are only three people who know the recipes.
“We’ve introduced a new kind of sausage since I bought the store. It’s a green apple cider bratwurst and it’s very popular,” he said.
They also produce a variety of rubs and sauces.
David’s Meat Market is located at 4010 N. Jupiter Road in Garland.