It’s February, the month of our founder’s birthday. George Stachecki, Tom’s father, will be 89 years old on the 10th. Hard to believe it’s been 45 years since George, with his wife Pat, began a legacy on a shoe string and a prayer that continues to thrive today. Having accepted a position at Allied Foods in 1972, he packed up his family of six from Detroit, Michigan and drove all the way to Spokane, only to find out, once settled, that the job no longer existed. What to do?
They took a gamble and just the two of them opened a small Detroit-style deli in the Whitworth College District specializing in only the best and always fresh high quality meats, unusual cheeses, and home-made sausages principled upon, “There’s No Substitute for Quality.” They named this little place, which quickly grew into one of the largest wholesale USDA regulated business in Spokane, ‘Angus Meats, Inc.’ Why that name? As George said, everybody knows Angus beef, and they’d be first in the phone book!
Over the years, it took many sacrifices and family compromises, but they embedded the purest meaning of the phrase ‘The American Way’ – that if you work hard enough, you can make your dreams come true and leave a profound legacy.
Written by Leslie Stachecki
George and Pat