Sausage Foundry owner taking over Village Meat Market location

After almost eight years in business, Village Meat Market is closing, but another meat-focused business is ready to keep the location going.

Sausage Foundry owner Steven Prochaska told The Gazette he is buying the business at 92 16th Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, and plans to reopen it as Anvil Meat Market and Deli this spring.

'We are going to still have some of the old Czech recipes, and also in-house cured and smoked pastrami, corned beef, bacon, smoked sausage and more,” he said. 'It's going to be kind of East Coast deli style, with hot and cold sandwiches.”

Prochaska said he is bringing in additional equipment and plans to give the space a face-lift before reopening, hopefully around St. Patrick's Day.

Village Meat Market was one of the first businesses to open in Czech Village after the 2008 flood. It took up the reigns of longtime Czech butcher Polehna's Meat Market, which didn't reopen after the flood.

Prochaska said he is excited to keep the tradition of having a butcher's shop in Czech Village going, as his great-grandfather once worked at Polehna's. He said he and Village Meat Market owner Lou Oettinger-Thompson have been talking about him taking over the space for several months, and that Oettinger-Thompson said she was ready to retire.

Village Meat Market's last day open will be Dec. 29th. The business opened in the spring of 2012 and features breakfast and lunch, along with a selection of meat. The menu focuses on a mix of traditional Czech dishes and Cajun-inspired food.

Prochaska said Sausage Foundry, which sells meat and other goods inside NewBo City Market, will remain open, with a wider array of frozen products for sale.

'We'll expand from about seven products to 60 to 80 varieties, which will be fun,” he said.

His other NewBo City Market business, Bohemian Grocery, is closing Dec. 31 after just over a year in business.

'It's been losing money for 10 months now,” Prochaska said. 'I've got bigger fish to fry right now.”

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