CUT ABOVE: How a Little Butcher grew a big loyal following

BUSINESS PROFILE: They might call themselves the Little Butcher, but if their loyal customer base is anything to go by this Kingaroy shop is a big success.

CUT ABOVE: The Little Butcher Kingaroy owner Clinton Stretton first picked up butchers’ knives at the age of 15, and hasn’t put them down since. Picture: Dominic Elsome

THERE’S rarely a quiet moment for Clinton Stretton and his team at the Little Butcher in Kingaroy.

But even by their standards, the last few months have been busy, with shoppers returning to local businesses like butchers and bakers for their groceries.

“We worked extremely hard through the whole COVID period so the boys and all the staff are pretty well buggered,” Clinton said.

“Now we’ve got to push on to Christmas.”

Four years after Clinton started the small family-run butchery, the Little Butcher has become a firm fan favourite for South Burnett shoppers.

The South Burnett Time’s Thumbs Up call-outs have been inundated with comments praising the team at the shop for their customer service and the quality of the products.

Blackbutt local Clinton has been butchering his whole life, starting when he was just 15.

Growing up on his family’s cattle property, becoming a butcher was just the “next step” for Clinton.

He said the decision to start the shop had been a simple one for he and his wife Brenda.

“We just really wanted to have a business of our own,” he said.

“It was now or never.”

The response from the community certainly suggests they made the right choice, with business booming four years on.

The Little Butcher team in Kingaroy Shopping World. Picture: Dominic Elsome

On top of hard work from the team at the butchers, Clinton said the secret ingredient to the shop’s success was “without a doubt” positive customer interactions.

“Mrs Smith can come in and ask for one piece of rib fillet, we can cut it how she wants, give the kids a Cheerio – kids happy, Mum and Dad are happy,” he said.

“Customer service is what it’s all about.”

And this local customer service was on show during the height of the pandemic when the team was forced to turn away out of town shoppers to ensure local customers had access to quality products.

While many industries have been facing tough times during the pandemic, Clinton said the butcher’s shop had had a boost in popularity as shoppers become more conscious about keeping their money local.

“I reckon some of the older industries like butchers and bakers, we’ve come through this pretty well,” he said.

“And through that period the shopping centres, they couldn‘t keep up – they didn’t have the independence that we do.

“We could say right let‘s go and we tried our best, it wasn‘t easy, but we supplied products to the locals which is the most important thing. And we gained a lot of customers by doing that.”

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