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Gore's Meats celebrates 50 years, opens Stephens City deli
By Josette Keelor -- jkeelor@nvdaily.com
STEPHENS CITY -- As Gore's Meats in Stephens City celebrates its 50th anniversary year, the Gore family focuses attention on their recent addition, Gore's Fresh Meats & Deli at 383 Fairfax Pike in Stephens City.
"Stephens City needed a butcher. You know, good local, fresh meat," said Levi Gore, whose great-grandfather Frederick started the business with a processing plant at 1426 Double Church Road in Stephens City. In 1991 the company added a processing plant at 12526 S. Middle Road in Edinburg.
Gore helps run the new deli with his wife, Keighley, who handles marketing, and meat manager Jeff Dienst.
"I couldn't let it die with me," Gore said, though currently his father, Jeff, and uncle Joe own the business. "We have a pretty good reputation through the valley," Gore said. He and his wife plan to maintain that reputation at the deli, which opened on Oct. 24.
The company's slogan is "The name you know, the quality you trust," Mrs. Gore said.
Together now for 10 years, and married for nearly three, the couple say they never considered working anywhere other than for Gore's Meats.
"We started dating in eighth grade," Mrs. Gore said. They met at Robert E. Aylor Middle School on an FFA trip, she said.
"I worked for the family all through high school," said her husband.
The couple went on to study in Virginia Tech's agriculture technology program and afterward returned home to the family business.
"We're our favorite people to work with," Mrs. Gore said.
Their passion for the work goes beyond working for a business they believe in; they also sell a product they believe in.
"We're the only custom fresh butcher in Stephens City," Gore said.
"We will pretty much customize anything that customers request," he said.
"From beef liver to ox tail," his wife said. They also make their own scrapple.
Their specialty is their sausage, which Gore said is their biggest seller. They provide the stuffed sausage for the Winchester Kiwanis Club, and supply many local supermarkets, including Martins and Food Lion.
Gore's Meats supplies "the freshest products we can," Gore said, "and we do it a lot cheaper."
Because customers can buy directly from Gore's, "We essentially get rid of the middle man," he said.
"The most unique things we do is with our smoker," Gore said.
"We do custom smoking," said Dienst. "Store-made beef bologna we do in house." He said the smoked ribs and smoked brisket are customer favorites too.
Customers can buy as much or as little as they like, the Gores said. They've even have customers come in and order a single hamburger patty.
"Our meat is of the highest quality," Mrs. Gore said. "It matches our service."
All of their cheese and most of their deli meats are Amish-made in Pennsylvania, but when it can, Gore's sells local products.
The deli sells cole slaw by Mrs. Lauder's in Front Royal, Route 11 Potato Chips from Mt. Jackson, and barbecue sauce by Golden Blends in Front Royal.
"If we're capable of doing it," Gore said, "we do it here."
Gore's Fresh Meats & Deli is located at 383 Fairfax Pike in Stephens City. Contact the deli at 869-1129 or at goresmeats.com. Gore's is also on Facebook and Twitter.
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