Leeway Butcher closing at the end of October

photo by: Jeff Burkhead

Lee and K Meisel are pictured outside of Leeway Butcher, 935 Iowa St., in February 2020.

Leeway Butcher will be closing at the end of the month, according to a post on social media by its owners.

“As you can imagine, we’re heartbroken. However, the economic climate over the past few years has been incredibly difficult for small, brick and mortar, mom-and-pop shops like ours,” Lee and K Meisel said in the post. “With costs continuing to rise, we simply cannot continue.”

But the owners of the shop at 935 Iowa St. plan to start a new chapter for their brand: bringing Leeway products to grocery stores. They said they hope to have an update on that front soon.

They plan to carry on with the educational initiative Wakarusa Native Foodways, which is meant to promote food sovereignty and preserve Indigenous food knowledge.

“It has been an honor to belong to this beautiful community and to have been a small part of the important work being done within our local food systems,” they said.

Leeway Franks, the Meisels’ restaurant at the same Iowa Street location, closed down in September 2023 after having been in business since 2015.