Rib steaks are cut at Reichert's Meats Wednesday morning in Centralia.
Reflections are seen in a display case at Reichert's Meats Wednesday morning in Centralia.
Ryan James, of Reichert's Meats, carries a box out to a vehicle for a customer on Wednesday in Centralia.
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With nearly 31 years invested in the business — 10 as an employee and coming up on 21 as the owner — Dennis Lininger considers Reichert’s Choice Meats to be his life.
The butcher shop in Centralia sells all basic cuts of beef, poultry and pork, but can get a hold of specialty cuts at customers’ request.
“If you want it, we can do it,” Lininger said.
They also carry some freezer items, including the popular locker packs, combination packages of different meats that are packaged together and frozen, and typically feed up to two people per week.
Aside from the meat, Reichert’s sells deli meat and cheese products, along with cold beer and soda.
In 2012, The Chronicle reported that Reichert’s was struggling to keep the doors open following a 25 percent decrease in business that started in 2009 due to the economy at the time, issues with a former employee and Lininger’s personal health issues.
Business has improved since then, and Lininger said that the store has seen no negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If anything, it (the pandemic) helped me out,” said Lininger, citing a unique boom in business that lasted for a few months starting March of last year, when the state first announced COVID-19 shutdowns and people were concerned with stocking up on groceries.
Reichert’s received a unique boom in business in the first months of the pandemic.
Since Reichert’s qualifies as an essential business under state COVID-19 orders, its doors have stayed open for the entirety of the pandemic.
“It’s been pretty wild around here,” said Lininger. “It was pretty overwhelming for the first couple of months.”
Business-levels have pretty much returned to normal, said Lininger, but he and his staff stay plenty busy providing quality meats to the Centralia area.
About Reichert’s Choice Meats
Owner: Dennis Lininger
Address: 105 W. 1st St., Centralia
Phone: 360-736-8072
Website: www.reichertsmeats.com/
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m
