How has a Chicago butcher, Paulina Market, stayed in business for 70 years? By focusing on quality, adapting to the times, and listening to their customers:
Upon entering, one is immediately greeted with several things: a wooden pig head that feeds counter tickets from its mouth, a church pew that can sit an overflow crowd, and the smell of dozens of different meats (smoked and raw) wafting through the air. This, truly, is a butcher. Originally a German deli — the distinction is important — on Chicago’s North Side, Paulina has evolved with the times while remaining true to its roots.
“We’re always going to try to get the best [product]. If it’s not the best, we don’t keep it. We send it back,” said Bill Begale, the owner of the marketplace. Begale has been at Paulina since 1984, except for a brief stint with a cheese business, and has owned the marketplace since 2006 when he bought it from the sons of the founder, Sigmund Lekan. In 2009 he purchased the property as well.
“This used to be a strictly German market because this was a German neighborhood,” he explained. “But I saw a German deli not too far from here go out of business because they wanted to stay strictly German. And they’re gone.” Asked about the key to Paulina’s long-term success and sterling reputation, he cited consistency, “and always try[ing] to evolve with the times.”
At first glance, being consistent and being open to change seem to be concepts at odds with each other. But any visit to Paulina Market shows that not to be the case. What makes Paulina so lauded, so popular, so well-known, so respected is the attention to detail, both to its products and its customers.
“We always give [the customer] what they’re asking for,” Begale said. He then proceeded to list a sample of the ways the market has changed with the times: “When I started here in ’84 we had no freezers. Then we had freezers out there” — he pointed towards a corner — “and we had turkeys and gizzards and ducks and chickens. Then we started adding pastas, then soups. We have to offer other stuff,” he said, “while keeping the core of what we do.”
