After Delays, Work Set to Begin on P.F. Meat in Anderson

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

After more than a year of planning, a new business is coming to downtown, bringing something not seen in that area in many years: a butcher shop.

For decades, the building at 522 N. Main St. at the corner of East Calhoun Street served as James Hanks Gulf Station, a place defined by gasoline, tires, road dust and the small necessities of getting somewhere else. Later, it became a BP station. Most recently, it served as a hub for Yellow Taxi.

Now, after a longer-than-expected period of planning, engineering and historic-preservation work, the old service station is preparing for a new kind of daily traffic: people looking for a steak cut to order, local eggs, raw milk, coffee, pastries, pickles, sausage and the other items that turn a practical errand into a reason to linger.

Construction is expected finally begin on the building’s conversion into P.F. Meat Co. Butchery & Market, the Anderson branch of the Pendleton business that has built a following around locally and regionally sourced food.

The project has faced delays, but that timetable is part of the story. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places during the planning process, and the owners decided that the work of preserving the building’s character mattered more than moving quickly.

“Some things are worth taking the extra time to do right,” the company said in announcing the start of construction.

The current target is to complete construction in March 2027, though owners are not announcing an opening date yet, noting that historic renovations can reveal surprises after the walls come open.

“Now the real transformation begins,” the company said.

P.F. Meat Co. began as a custom-processing operation, working with beef and pork for local producers. The business later expanded into retail with its Pendleton location, which opened in the town’s old post office at the corner of Main Street and Depot Street.

The Pendleton shop is marking its second anniversary this month and now supports more than 100 small farms and businesses.

The company’s retail model is built around a full-service butcher counter and a deliberately local approach to groceries. At the Pendleton location, customers can buy fresh beef, pork, chicken and lamb, along with frozen products. Two butchers cut meat to order, offering the kind of service that has become less common in a grocery economy organized around plastic-wrapped packages and self-checkout lanes.

The shop also sells ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat items, including smoked sausages and snack sticks, as well as eggs, milk, bread, pastries, pantry goods, pickles, sauerkraut and popcorn.

It specializes in local and regionally sourced groceries and small-batch producers that make pantry staples.

There is also a coffee nook in Pendleton, where the shop serves house-made syrups, pastries from local bakers and coffee roasted by Dave. The effect is not exactly a grocery store, not only a butcher shop and not simply a café, but a small-market version of a food system for farmers, processors, bakers, roasters, customers and a counter where somebody knows how to turn a whole cut of meat into the cut a customer wants.

The Anderson location is expected to include the full butcher case, but its owners anticipate a different rhythm than the Pendleton store.

The corner of North Main and East Calhoun is an entrance to downtown Anderson, a place shaped by through traffic, nearby offices, shoppers and people making quick stops. The new location is expected to emphasize convenience, with grab-and-go food and take-and-bake options prepared by the company.

The owners expect the Anderson shop to retain the essential elements of the Pendleton model while adapting to the needs of a downtown customer who may be stopping for dinner on the way home, a sandwich or snack between appointments, or a local product that does not require a long grocery-store trip.

Some elements of the Anderson shop are still being decided. The owners have suggested there may be “a couple surprises,” but they have not yet disclosed what those additions will be.

The historic designation of the old Gulf station gives the project a second layer of purpose.

The building will not be treated as a blank shell. Its redevelopment will involve the city, engineering work and design decisions intended to preserve the character of the corner. The owners described the property as a gateway to downtown — one of the first places visitors see when entering from the north.

The city has been working closely with the project, the owners said, as they navigate design requirements and historic-preservation questions.

That is part of what makes the restoration more than a retail project. Old filling stations often occupy prominent corners because cars once needed to turn into them easily. Their canopies, pumps and bays were designed for a world in motion. In Anderson, the building’s next life may be quieter but no less connected to movement: customers walking in from downtown, drivers stopping at the edge of Main Street, employees carrying boxes of produce and meat into a building that once received gasoline deliveries.

The station has already belonged to several versions of Anderson. It served drivers under the Gulf sign, then the BP sign, then taxi customers. P.F. Meat Co. will add another chapter, one based not on fuel but on food.