The building at 2304 Glynn Avenue was built for a butcher shop, but its last tenant wasn't allowed to run one. Marshside Market operated under stipulations that it would not run the butcher shop. Allan Tullos of FG Squared told The Brunswick News that this "essentially relegated the business to a glorified gas station."
That restriction is gone. The building is now Sea Cow Butcher Shop & Gourmet Market, and its new owners face no contractual bar on running the butcher shop. A mile or so into downtown, Zach Siler's Brunswick Mercantile has filled the ground floor of 1312 Newcastle Street with a market called Market BQK. Both were open by mid-September, and they have something in common beyond timing. Each one is built around farms its owners either own or know by name, and some of those suppliers are the same growers who set up at the Saturday farmers market at Mary Ross Waterfront Park.
The Glynn Avenue building was meant to be a butcher shop
"This was made to be a butcher shop," Tullos said, standing in the old Stripling's and Marshside Market space. He added that the gas pumps out front are a good way to bring people in but aren't the point.
The people behind it are familiar. FG Squared, short for Fat Guys Food Group, is Tullos, Connor Rankin, David Ulrich and Josh Nichols. The group already owns Bubba Garcia's, Gnat's Landing, Coastal Kitchen, Bubba Garcia's downtown, Wolf Island Oysters and Coastal Cucina on Jekyll Island, along with Redfern Village on St. Simons Island. Harry Foster joined them as a partner on Sea Cow.
They kept the staff. Many Marshside employees had come over from Stripling's, and they moved to Sea Cow too. Sherry Medlin, who managed Marshside, now runs the shop. Before opening, the group announced that Matt Greene was coming down from Virginia to work with the butchering crew. He has owned two butcher shops, managed one in Brooklyn and worked as a chef in New York City.
"We know exactly where the meat is coming from. We know how it was raised, what it ate and we've had full control over the entire process."
Greene was talking about the farm, and the farm is what sets this shop apart.
How short the Sea Cow supply line is, and which parts are still plans
FG Squared owns about 300 acres north of Statesboro, where it was raising 85 head of cattle when The Brunswick News visited. The group's stated goal is for all of the meat sold at Sea Cow to come from that farm. Breaking down whole animals, rather than buying the vacuum-sealed cuts most grocery stores get, lets the butchers cut to order, Greene said.
The shop has already started stocking from nearer than Statesboro. In September it added eggs by the dozen and gallons of raw cow's milk from The Paddock, a Brunswick farm. Under Georgia rules the milk is sold and labeled for pet use only.
Some of what was promised before opening is confirmed and some isn't yet. Here is where things stand as of early October:
- Confirmed on Sea Cow's own site: Georgia-grown beef sold as Choice, Prime, Sea Cow Reserve, American Wagyu, grass-fed and grain-finished, plus hot meals from the Sea Cow kitchen. Posted hours are Monday through Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Announced before opening: a restaurant called The Butcher's Table serving breakfast and lunch and hosting special events, grab-and-go meals ready to reheat, and specialty cuts customers asked for, such as tri-tip and spinalis. Lamb was under consideration, with occasional elk tenderloin mentioned.
- Longer-term goal: supplying the FG Squared restaurants with farm beef. "Ultimately we will provide the restaurants with their meats," Greene said. That is a plan, not a current practice.
If you're after a particular cut, ask at the counter. Before opening, the owners asked followers to send in special requests for items to stock.
Market BQK's supply line runs through the farmers market
Sea Cow is working to shorten its supply chain by owning the farm. Brunswick Mercantile gets there by buying from the growers who already sell downtown. Siler named Farm 99, which sells goods in Sterling, as his primary partner. He also buys from farmers and producers at the twice-monthly Forward Brunswick Farmers Market, and he lined up three local honey producers before opening.
Market BQK, the shop side of the business, bills itself as "Over 20 Georgia makers, growers, artisans, and small businesses gathered under one roof." It's open every day from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. The Golden Isles Lantern listed produce, locally sourced meats, Sweet Grass Dairy cheese, milk, butter and local honey among the groceries. The store is also testing free delivery at regular shelf prices. Deliveries are scheduled with each customer rather than on demand, someone has to be home to receive them, and the first sign-ups are going through the Mercantile's Facebook page.
That makes the Saturday market more useful. It meets on the second and fourth Saturdays, so goods from its vendors used to be available downtown on only two mornings a month. Siler's plan to stock from those same producers puts some of them on a shelf that stays open until 9:30 every night.
Siler's background shows in the building. He was a microbiologist who managed an infectious disease lab in Wyoming and ran a restaurant on the side in Jackson Hole. Two pieces of the Mercantile are still marked "coming soon" on its site. One is Coffee & Cream, for small-batch ice cream and bakery items. The other is Piedmont, a small-plates restaurant. As planned, Piedmont will seat guests first come, first served at two large common tables. Its menu will draw on piedmont regions from North Carolina to Spain, France and South Africa, and the bar will be wine-forward. Siler has said diners will be able to buy a bottle in the store and bring it to the table to keep the cost down. "You're not going to get fries, you're not going to get a burger, you're not going to get an 18-ounce steak," he told The Brunswick News.
One Saturday, three counters
The next two farmers market Saturdays are October 10 and October 24. After that come November 14 and November 28, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The dates follow the market's published second-and-fourth-Saturday schedule. The hours fit together like this:
| Stop | Address | Saturday hours | What links it to the others |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sea Cow Butcher Shop & Gourmet Market | 2304 Glynn Ave. | 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. | Georgia-grown beef, eggs from The Paddock |
| Brunswick Farmers Market | Mary Ross Waterfront Park pavilion, 10 F St. | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2nd and 4th Saturdays | Rules allow local produce, meat and seafood; its producers are among the Mercantile's planned suppliers |
| Market BQK at Brunswick Mercantile | 1312 Newcastle St. | 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. | Produce, Sweet Grass Dairy cheese, local honey |
Sea Cow opens early enough to stop on the way in. The market wraps up at 1 p.m., and Market BQK opens at 11, so there's a two-hour overlap downtown.
The older version of the same idea, two doors down
Next to the Mercantile, at 1320 Newcastle Street, Tait's Lawn Products celebrated its 100th year with a downtown block party on April 25. Ann Tait Morgan, who still works there, described how the business started in 1926. "There were a lot of farmers and dairies in town when Grandpa (Hugh Tait Sr.) started the business," she said. "Many people downtown also had chickens and some had cows and hogs. Grandpa would unload bags of feed and seed off the train and deliver them to local farmers."
By the time Trey Tait bought the business in 1989, few farmers were left, so he moved it toward lawn products and equipment. After his time as owner, the family sold the store to Matt Robinson, the first owner from outside the family. Robinson kept the whole staff, including mechanics, who have repaired equipment there for more than 30 years. "I'd have to be crazy to consider changing the name," he said.
A century ago, feed and seed came off the train on that block and went straight out to local farmers. This fall the same block has a market stocking produce, locally sourced meats and local honey, and Glynn Avenue has a butcher shop whose owners are raising cattle near Statesboro to fill its case.
Mackay Cate has lived in the Golden Isles his whole life and keeps track of changes like the butcher case on Glynn Avenue and the new market on Newcastle Street. If you own a home in Brunswick and want a current, street-level read on what it's worth, ask for a free home valuation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
