HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. — Building back a business one sandwich at a time, the Galvinell Meat Company opened up a year ago on the site of the former 7-Eleven in Havre de Grace to rave reviews.
“We waited until the large crowds went away and we found out what day was the best day, then we came and placed our order,” said Carolyn Colburn who has lived in Havre de Grace for more than half a century.
Galvinell Meat finds success after fire
A fire a few years ago at the meat company’s slaughterhouse in Conowingo shut down the family-owned business dating back to 1968 and Co-Owner Danny McGrath says it left them two million dollars in the red.
“We didn’t have enough to rebuild the USDA facility that we had, but we had an opportunity to open a little butcher shop, which maybe we’ll do a couple of sandwiches out of,” said McGrath, “Just something to do cause we’re not killing animals anymore blah, blah, blah… so what God’s given us is amazing.”
McGrath drew from his previous experience running a Delaware sandwich shop to add a few deli items, which took off the minute the business opened.
“We were only going to do sandwiches that I wanted to do, because that’s what I like and you can’t get around here,” added McGrath, “Well, it’s blown into a full-on… forget it… cheesesteaks. It’s amazing.”
“How many in the last year?”
“So the best we can figure. We didn’t really… the first month, we didn’t track the exact amount, but we did 38 thousand nine hundred and 42 sandwiches in one year.”
That’s more than 38,000 reasons that locals have adopted the place as a go-to, and they’re still going to it to this day.
“I think maybe it’s the fact they some meats that are really Italian and it’s just a different flavor to it, and that’s great,” said Colburn.
“I hope you don’t get addicted,” I told her.
“It’s not always bad to get addicted,” she laughed.
