Stabb’s Butcher

By Penny Edmanson The excitement was palpable and thanks to social media, news of the most talked about business in town soon spread – Stabby’s was reopening. Locals and holiday owners alike had waited impatiently as their beloved butchery underwent renovations and refurbishments.

On 24 March, approvals were signed off and on Tuesday 30 March the doors opened to pretty much the same business with the same faces, but a different pecking order.

Katrina Stabb is now in charge, with the “retired” Gordon giving a life of leisure a whole new perspective. He is still very much involved – helping Katrina and of course making those famous sausages. It’s clear to see that the two have an easy relationship, able to give each other the occasional ribbing (no pun intended) but also respectful of each other’s views.

Stabb’s Butchery had been part of the Anglesea profile for over 30 years. Gordon purchased the business in 1986. He had no prior connection with Anglesea but was looking for a change and a bit of a challenge at the time it came on the market.

Although Gordon didn’t come from a family of butchers, he did get a taste for the trade when he and his four siblings helped their parents out on their small farm in Moolap. His dad was a marine engineer wh\o worked on the tugs in the port of Geelong. Having a threeweek-on, one-week-off roster, and a wife from a farming background, Gordon’s dad used his time off to become an A-grade farmer, winning prizes for his fat lambs. He taught himself the art of home butchering – a skill that Gordon took to the next level – first apprenticed at 15 years of age in Leopold, where he stayed for 15 months, and then working for 10 years with Knights in West Geelong.

In those days, Knights was a big enterprise, employing a large staff and having an active social club. It was there that romance blossomed, with Gordon meeting and subsequently marrying the young Joy Woods.

What Gordon lacked in butchering heritage, Joy more than made up for, with her forebears the Pescud brothers selling the first meat on the goldfields in Ballarat. The tradition carried on through the generations, with Joy’s mother and brothers all in that line of work. An uncle, Harry Pescud, even built an early butcher’s shop in Torquay from mud brick.

In 1976, Gordon and Joy took the leap and bought their first business in Garden Street, East Geelong. Gordon recalls that the community spirit in those days was very much like Anglesea is now, with people genuinely caring for and supporting each other.

After 10 years of building up a highly

The community has been thrilled to see Stabb’s Butchers re-open its doors under the management of Katrina Stabb, with help from her dad Gordon.

successful business, Gordon and Joy were ready for another challenge.

A chance mention by a customer of a butcher’s shop for sale set them on the path to 117 Great Ocean Road, Anglesea.

Initially, Gordon and Joy, together with their two young daughters, Rebecca and Katrina, lived in the adjoining house (now Anglesea Osteopathic Clinic) so there was little delineation between work and family life.

The girls were often found helping in the shop and as Katrina said, “It was the only way to get to see mum and dad”. Katrina can’t have found the work too displeasing as she went on and completed her apprenticeship with her father.

Gordon’s philosophy is “what goes around comes around” and this has been very much reflected in his unwavering generosity with donations to Anglesea Lions, Football Club, Golf Club and “the list goes on”. Individuals have also been the beneficiaries of Gordon’s kindness. Never wanting to let anyone down, he has been known to deliver Christmas orders to people’s homes well after closing time on Christmas Eve.

Birthdays were also looked after. As Rosemarie Jones recounts: “I had left it a bit late to purchase the traditional cray for Andrew’s birthday. On enquiring at Stabby’s, Gordon said ‘I’ll see what I can do’ and sure enough he rang to say he had one. On calling to collect it, I was told by the girls that there was no cray and I went home empty handed. Later that day, there was a knock on the door and, true to form, Gordon was there with cray in hand.” In 2019, Gordon felt it was time to retire and put the business on the market. What looked like a hopeful purchaser did not eventuate, so Gordon took this opportunity to close the doors and commence some renovations.

Fortunately, the stars realigned and in October 2020 the time was right for Katrina, who had returned from Halls Creek, Western Australia, and was working for Cannings Free Range Butcher in Melbourne.

Together they completed the refurbishments. A new floor was laid, with improved drainage, the walls were freshly panelled, and a brand new cool room was installed.

The new Stabby’s is a seamless mix of old and new. Still the same high quality meats and excellent service, not to mention those sausages, but with the prospect of free-range meat and other innovations in the future.

Following in her father’s footsteps as a community player, Katrina has happily collaborated with local artist Deb Elliott who, under the guidance of ceramicist Karen Steenbergen, will create a mural on the exterior wall featuring sunrise over a local beach. Inside the shop, a reminder of the strong family heritage will be found in the collection of enlarged old photos.

Where many small businesses have failed, Stabby’s has survived the competition from large supermarket chains and is able now to move into the next generation. This is due not only to their expertise and fine products, but to their strong family ethic and unstinting care for the community.

Call Stabby’s Butchers on 5263 3582.

Sam Benjamin, Gordon Stabb (centre) & Trevor Zappas outside the shop in the 1980s.