Photos: Tracey Hedge
Story: Betty Lease
Business
’ S E R HE F E E B E H T R & R Q U A L I T Y M E AT s KEEPs WITH TRADITION
Charlie Lefort and Jason Schlange are both meatand-potatoes guys, and it makes perfect sense. Lefort is president and majority owner of R&R Quality Meats in Redding and Schlange is its manager and minority owner. Although neither man founded the 40-year-old Redding institution, both have made it their business to keep the old-time traditional meat shop true to its roots. Customers get personalized service, they are treated with courtesy and professionalism and they benefit from the knowledge of trained R&R employees who can provide advice on how to prepare the meats. “The traditions That’s the way it was when Lefort, now were handed 53, began working at R&R at age 16. And down to us, that’s the way it still was when Schlange, 31, and we will joined the workforce when he was 19. They’ve keep them alive made sure the values that guided the original and pass them owners – Roger Dawes and Robert Blagg – have remained intact. down. That’s (R&R) “For us, very little has changed,” Lefort our strength. “Our business is based on an oldShops like this says. fashioned style, full-service meat store. The are becoming a traditions were handed down to us, and we rarity.” will keep them alive and pass them down. That’s our strength. Shops like this are becoming a rarity.” Their customers appreciate the approach, and are loyal. Ernest and Irene Cabitto of McCloud have been buying meat at R&R for more than 20 years, and they stock up once a month when they come to visit their children’s families in Anderson and Cottonwood. “It’s always been fresh, and the price is right,” says Ernest Cabitto, holding a heavy sack filled with the beef, continued on page 52 June 2012 Enjoy 51