Butcher's Block targets hungry tailgaters

If asked about his hobbies, Dave Schell, an IU alumnus who graduated in 2003, would just laugh. When you work 80-110 hours a week, there is not much time for anything else, he said. \n'Workaholic' could very easily describe the 24-year-old owner of Bloomington's only specialty butcher shop, Butcher's Block. The shop opened its doors almost two years ago and has been growing since day one, but Schell isn't letting up just yet. This football season will mark the beginning of the newest facet of Schell's business -- delivering food directly to tailgate parties. \n"Customers can custom order tailgate packages and pay online, then we'll meet you at the stadium with your pre-order package," Schell said. "It is a breakthrough idea. Quite honestly, I haven't seen it happen anywhere else." \nBeginning with last Saturday's season opener, Schell will now spend his game days on a golf cart delivering burgers, sausage and other tailgate essentials -- precooked or not -- to hungry tailgaters outside the stadium. \n"(Tailgate delivery) is going to help them even as a way of advertising," said Joe Denekamp, a Kelley School of Business professor. "They'll be able to get their name out there while they are making some money. It's a win-win situation." \nAnd no one would know better than Denekamp, who taught Jason Schaffer, Schell's former business partner, and worked closely with the pair in the beginning stages of the business plan, he said. Schaffer has since moved on to another opportunity, but Schell has continued to work with Denekamp, Schell said. \n"I had a good feeling about (Butcher's Block) all along," Denekamp said. "It was odd that there wasn't already a high-end butcher in Bloomington." \nSchell studied business management through the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, with the intention of possibly going to graduate school in the future, he said. What he did not know, however, was that his part-time job in the meat department of a local grocery store would also give him the skills he needed for his future business. \nWhen a large corporation bought out the grocery store, the business underwent a number of changes, Schell said. \n"It lost a lot of its local flair," Schell said. "We had a lot of complaints." \nSchell saw his opportunity and decided to go for it, he said. \n"It came down to timing," he said. "I had just graduated and had the time to put into creating a business plan and interest in owning my own local business." \nSchell drew funding from a combination of personal assets and a small business loan from the government, he said. Funding was not easy to get, but the strength of the business plan and the obvious market for a butcher shop in the area earned Schell the money he needed to get started. \nSchell prides himself on stocking only the highest quality meats and seafood. All the meat is hand-cut and ground in the store, and fresh seafood arrives each day. But equally important is Butcher's Block's customer service, he said. \n"I'm able to talk to my customers on a Norman Rockwell-level," Schell said. "I probably know all of my customers' first and last names, whether they are aware of it or not." \nThat kind of service is what brings Mary Alice Rickert, a Bloomington resident, back to Butcher's Block time and again, she said. \n"The atmosphere is friendly and efficient," she said. "And the quality of the meats is excellent." \nRickert shops at Butcher's Block about once a week, she said. But some of Schell's other customers come in as often as every day or every other day, he said. \nAt 24, Schell is not much older than most of his employees, the majority of whom are college students, he said. \n"It is strange to not only manage people only a year or two younger, but not as weird as having the older guys work for me," Schell said. "But I like to see it as working with, rather than working for." \nTom Fleetwood, a full-time employee at Butcher's Block and the oldest at 57, more than twice Schell's age, said he does not see the arrangement as odd, however. \n"I don't think anything of it," Fleetwood said. \nRight now, Schell is just looking to expand his tailgating project and survive the holiday season, he said. During Thanksgiving, he expects to sell 700 to 800 fresh turkeys. Expansion, while unlikely, is not necessarily out of the question.\n"I can't rule it out as an option, but it seems doubtful for right now," Schell said.\n"At this time, I don't see myself wanting to be anywhere but Bloomington"