A Whole-Animal Butcher Shop Is Coming to East Passyunk Avenue

Primal Supply Meats | Photo by Jason Varney

It’s about to be a lot easier to score a grassfed steak or pasture-raised pork shoulder in East Passyunk.

Primal Supply Meats — which opened in 2016 with a CSA-style program and farmers’ market stands offering sustainably-raised pork, beef, and chicken as well as pasture-raised eggs — is getting a brick-and-mortar location on South Philly’s restaurant row.

Owner and butcher Heather Thomason, who was head butcher at Kensington Quarters before starting Primal Supply as a CSA-style “Butcher’s Club” and wholesale operation in 2016, has signed a lease for 1540 East Passyunk Avenue. Vincent Stipo of MSC Retail represented the landlord, while Will Moscowitch of MSC represented Thomason.

Heather Thomason | Photo by James Collier

“We are most excited to have a place where we can welcome our customers and connect with them in person again,” Thomason said of the new space. While she and her crew appreciate the support they’ve gotten from Butcher’s Club members, farmers’ market shoppers, and chefs since they opened, “we miss chatting over the counter and really getting to know each other.”

Thomason said that the Butcher’s Club program, which has pickup locations across the city, and wholesale offerings to chefs and restaurants will remain unchanged. She’s shooting for a spring 2018 opening for the new shop.