This Small-Town Missouri Grocery Has Been Family-Owned Since 1959 And Still Hand-Cuts Its Steaks

A grocery store with a real butcher counter already feels like a win these days. This Missouri market has been family-owned since 1959, and it still keeps that old-school part of the business going with steaks cut by hand instead of pulled from a prepacked case.

The meat counter is a big part of the appeal, but the rest of the store keeps things practical with everyday groceries, fresh foods, and the familiar feel of a small-town market.

There is something refreshing about shopping somewhere that still does things a little more personally.

You can pick up dinner, ask for the cut you want, and actually talk to the people behind the counter. That simple setup has clearly worked for generations, and it gives this Missouri grocery store a personality that big chains rarely manage to copy.

A Family Name That Stuck Around Since 1959

Very few grocery stores make it past a couple of decades, let alone stretch across generations, and that alone makes this one worth talking about. The Hickman family opened the doors back in 1959, and the store has been feeding the town of Perry ever since.

Ownership did change hands not too long ago, when Jordan and Megan Branstetter took over, but they made a point of keeping the Hickman name right where it belongs. That decision says a lot about how they see the place, because it would have been easy to slap a new sign up and start fresh.

Instead they treated the name like something borrowed from the community rather than something they owned outright. When you walk in, you are stepping into a business that has watched kids grow up, move away, and come back with kids of their own.

Missouri has plenty of towns where the old stores shuttered and never reopened, so seeing one still humming along feels genuinely good. Think of it less like shopping and more like visiting a piece of local history that still rings up groceries every single day of the week.

Where To Find It On The Map

Getting there is half the fun, mostly because the drive out into Ralls County is so unhurried that you start relaxing before you even arrive. You will find the store at 104 N Marybell St, Perry, MO 63462, sitting right where the town gathers for its everyday errands.

Perry is small enough that you will not need directions once you are inside the town limits, since the building is easy to spot and the streets are simple to follow. Parking has never been the headache it would be in a city, which is one of those small mercies you appreciate on a road trip.

If you are coming from Hannibal or Mark Twain Lake, the route winds through farmland that looks like a postcard someone forgot to mail. I would suggest treating it as a planned stop rather than a quick dash, because there is actually a lot to look at inside.

Bring a cooler if you are traveling, honestly, because you will probably want to take something home with you. That is usually how these grocery visits go once you see what is behind the counter.

Steaks Cut By Hand At The Butcher Counter

Most grocery meat arrives at the store already portioned, sealed, and shipped from somewhere far away, which is exactly why this counter stands out. The butchers here still cut steaks by hand, and they will do custom cuts if you ask for something specific.

Want a thicker ribeye than what is sitting in the case, or a roast trimmed a certain way for Sunday dinner? That kind of request is normal here rather than a strange inconvenience, and that alone puts the place in rare company.

The meat is kept fresh instead of frozen, which changes both texture and flavor in ways you notice the moment it hits a hot skillet. They also carry Bailey beef, raised on a farm right there in Perry, so the distance from pasture to display case is remarkably short.

For anyone who cooks, that combination of local sourcing and real butchering skill is the main reason to make the trip. Even if you are not buying, standing in front of the case gives you a quick lesson in how grocery shopping used to work everywhere.

It is a small thing that says a lot.

Hot Lunch And Sandwiches From The Deli

Hungry after the drive? The deli here handles that better than you would guess from the outside of the building, and plenty of locals treat it as their midday go-to.

They put out hot lunch daily, including Chester’s fried chicken, which has a loyal following among people who know their gas station and grocery chicken. Sandwiches get made fresh, so you can grab something and eat it in the car or take it down to the lake if you are headed that way.

What I like about a setup like this is how practical it is for travelers, since sit-down restaurants are thin on the ground in this part of northeast Missouri. You get a real meal without hunting around or driving another twenty minutes.

The prepared foods also work nicely if you are staying somewhere with a small kitchen and do not feel like cooking after a long day. Pick up a hot side or two, add something from the meat case for later, and your evening basically plans itself.

It is the kind of everyday usefulness that makes a store beloved rather than just convenient.

Produce That Comes From Nearby Farms

Local sourcing gets talked about a lot, but out here it is simply how things have always worked. The market leans on nearby farmers and regional suppliers whenever the season allows, which means the produce section shifts depending on what is actually growing.

You will notice the difference in the summer especially, when Missouri gardens and farms start turning out tomatoes, sweet corn, and everything else that tastes best within a day or two of being picked. Shorter travel time means better flavor, and that is not a fancy food claim, it is just physics.

Supporting growers in the area also keeps money circulating close to home, which in a county this size makes a real difference for families. There is something satisfying about buying vegetables that were grown within a reasonable driving distance of the checkout line.

If you are the type who likes cooking while traveling, this is where you build a good meal from scratch. Pair the produce with something from the meat case and you have got dinner sorted without a single chain store involved.

Simple, honest food shopping, basically.

Getting Greeted By Name At The Register

There is a certain kind of store where the cashier already knows what you came in for, and this is one of them. Regulars get greeted by name, usually with a genuine question about how they are doing, and that is not a performance for tourists.

When the same families shop somewhere for decades, the staff and the customers blur into something closer to extended relatives. As a visitor you notice that atmosphere immediately, even if nobody knows your name yet.

The pace is slower, conversations happen in the aisles, and nobody seems annoyed that a checkout line paused for a minute. Honestly, that rhythm is the whole reason small-town stops are worth building into a trip through Missouri.

You can learn more about a place in ten minutes at its grocery store than in an hour at any museum. The bulletin boards, the products on the shelves, the way people move around each other, all of it tells you something.

So slow down, look around, and let yourself enjoy a shopping trip that does not feel like a chore for once. That is the real souvenir here.

Owners With Grocery Running In The Family

Turns out the current owners did not come to this business cold. Jordan and Megan Branstetter took over the market, and the grocery trade already ran deep in their family line.

Jordan’s grandfather owned independent grocery stores of his own, so the rhythms of ordering, stocking, and serving a small community were familiar territory long before they signed anything. That background explains a lot about why the transition did not shake the store’s character.

Independent grocers operate on thin margins and long hours, and it helps enormously to have grown up watching someone do it well. They understand that a store like this lives or dies on trust rather than gimmicks.

Across Missouri, plenty of family grocery operations have quietly disappeared, so having younger owners step in with real experience is genuinely encouraging. It suggests the place has a future, not just a past worth admiring.

When you visit, you are seeing two family legacies layered on top of each other, one that started the store and one that is carrying it forward. That is a pretty rare thing to stumble across on a road trip.

Fair Prices That Keep Neighbors Fed

Running the only grocery store in a county could tempt anyone to charge whatever they want, and that is exactly what makes the approach here worth pointing out. The market works to keep prices fair and reachable for the families who depend on it week after week.

Quality meat, fresh produce, and full pantry stock still have to fit inside a real household budget, and they clearly take that seriously. For a lot of folks in rural Missouri, the nearest alternative involves a long drive and a tank of gas, which adds its own cost to every trip.

Keeping things affordable close to home is genuinely a service, not just a sales strategy. Visitors benefit from the same thing, since you are not paying some inflated novelty markup just because the place has charm.

You get good food at sensible prices and a story worth telling when you get back home. That balance of value and character is harder to find than it should be these days.

If you are mapping out a drive through northeast Missouri, put this stop on the list and see for yourself.