By Misty Cryer
Lakeside Meats held a grand opening on October 4 accompanied by a ribbon-cutting with the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors to celebrate the purchase of the establishment by a long-term employee.
The new owner is Homer Garcia, who has worked for Lakeside Meats for 36 years. “I’ve been working here since right out of high school,” said
Garcia. He said he started working for the meat market through the DECA program when Richard Williamson was the owner, with Sid Bernard as a silent partner. Garcia said that Bob Dugas (the previous owner) was the manager at that time.
“The two families got it started back when it was at the North Y by the cable company,” Garcia said. “Sid and Richard were the actual owners and the ones with the dream to sell to restaurants. They were the ones that put that big cow on top of the building—it was an investment they did to bring in the people; it was a landmark,” he said.
Unfortunately, the cow was destroyed. “In 2017, lighting hit it, and it burned,” said Garcia. “My goal is to bring it back. It meant something to me because I grew up with it,” he said.
“Richard passed away, and (the meat market) was left to his estate,” Garcia said. “Bob asked to buy it in partnership with one of the sons, Greg Williamson, the one that is in Artesia. They went partners, but after five years, they parted ways,” he said.
“As a high school kid, I started cleaning the meat market after school; then I went to working the counter and started delivering to restaurants. I started training to cut, like six or eight years later, and I’ve been cutting ever since,” said Garcia.
“I like serving people that saw me grow up in this business. The older generation has known me for years. It’s rewarding. It’s been a blessing growing up with this business with customers getting to know you. I’m real proud about that,” he said.
While working at Lakeside Meats, Garcia began processing wild game on the side. “That was one of the points to help me save money to give the down payment on the business. I want to thank the hunters who helped me save money. It was a nest egg that kept building and building; it’s a big chunk,” he said.
“I tell everybody, I got into it, but I have no nest egg because I gave it all away. I’m depending on you—the community—in order to keep serving you like we have all these years,” said Garcia.
Lakeside Meats will continue providing to both retail and wholesale customers. “We are a USDA-inspected establishment. We’re inspected daily to provide to the restaurants and wholesale places. We run a tight ship on sanitation,” he said.
The most challenging part of being in business is the financials, said Garcia. “Making sure I pay my debts—the trucks I get in are $10-20,000 in three trucks; if that money’s not turning, I’m in trouble,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m liable for a lot of debt, and the markup that you make on groceries is not big; you just get a percentage. That’s the nervous part. I had a compressor go down last week, and that put me in a bind, but there are ways to figure out your problem if you do it right,” he said.
“Support your local butcher that’s been serving you for years. Our goal is to keep serving you the best quality meat and service that you have received all these years,” Garcia said, specifying that nothing will change in that aspect. He mentioned minor changes such as the goal to bring back the landmark cow, rearrangement of aisles for a new look, and plans to sell hot food in the future.
“Freezer packs have exploded since I took over. They have doubled,” said Garcia. The meat market started advertising on Facebook, which he says is a blessing. “Each freezer pack, starting from lowest, you save $15 to $25 up to the last one where you can save a good $60 to $100,” he said.
Garcia said his crew is his number one supporter. They include his daughter, Kristina Garcia, who serves as Assistant Manager; Cory Laughlin, Assistant Butcher/Meat Cutter; and Counter Workers and Cleaners Aliz Lara, Dakota Derrington, his son, Julian Garcia, D.J. Larez, and Ryan Vaught.
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