Looking around the inside of The Pork Shop, it’s filled with various types of meat and the tinkling noise from the door constantly being opened as people walk in and out.
Founded in 1979 by Greg Combs, it originally was a way to sell the meat from their family farm. Now, the shop sells about 80 different types of fresh, handmade meat to new and returning customers alike.
Jason Corman, manager of The Pork Shop, has worked there for the past 30 years. He married the daughter of Combs and said the family farm went bankrupt while the shop remained strong.
“We weren’t very good farmers, we were better sausage makers,” Corman said.
The shop is currently preparing hams and turkeys for the holiday season. They typically make about 800 turkeys and 1,000 hams to sell. They begin preparing the holiday meats about a month before each holiday of the season because it takes about two weeks to smoke the meat, and the amount that they make cannot be made all at once when the holidays arrive.
The most popular item is most likely their bacon, burritos or bratwurst, Corman said.
Some customers have been shopping at The Pork Shop for the past 30 years.
“We’ve had people that their grandparents came in, their kids came in and now their grand kids are coming in. So we’re working with third generation customers now,” Corman said.
The rapid growth in Queen Creek has helped The Pork Shop’s business, he said. In the beginning, it was difficult for the shop since it was in the middle of nowhere. Now, it’s in the middle of one of the fastest growing towns in America, with plenty of local and new customers coming in.
The shop has had few changes made since its inception over 40 years ago. While there have been new products and flavors, there haven’t been huge changes made during that time.
“We keep making the same stuff we’ve made for 40 years, it’s been working well,” Corman said.
Recently, inflation forced the shop to raise prices last year, which it hadn’t in years.
“We try to keep prices as reasonable as we can,” Corman said.
Located at 3359 E. Combs Road in San Tan Valley, the shop is open every day except for Mondays and is accepting orders for the holiday season. Reach them at 480-987-0101.
