[image-1]Fans of the West Side butcher shop The Sausage Shoppe, which originally opened in 1938, learned yesterday that the store and smokehouse would be closing for good this spring. Owners Norm and Carol Heinle announced the sad news on Facebook with the following message:

“Norm and Carol and all of the Heinle Family want to THANK YOU for being our customer during the last 80 years. As 2017 comes to a close, we will start a 3-month closure. Saturday, March 31st will be our last day of business. Thank you for sharing your lives with us. We will miss you.”

The Old Brooklyn shop opened on March 3, 1938 as Kirchberger Sausage under the ownership of Hans Kirchberger and Theo Johanni, immigrants from Bavaria, Germany. The original location was at 4425 Memphis Avenue, but was relocated to its current location in 1962.

The popular source of various flavors of bratwurst, kielbasa, beef jerky, cottage hams, hickory-smoked bacon and coldcuts was featured in numerous print and television spots, including Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” on The Travel Channel.

At the tender age of 13, Norm started working for Hans, doing small jobs like mowing the grass and doing dishes. Over the years, he mastered the art of sausage-making himself. He officially took over the business in 1974. They changed the name to The Sausage Shoppe in 1979.

If you have not yet visited this Cleveland culinary treasure, do so before it’s too late.

This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 5, 2017.

For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.

6 replies on “The Sausage Shoppe, an 80-Year-Old Institution, to Close this Spring”

  2. You didn’t include the location in this article! If you want people to go before it’s gone, you should include the current address.

  3. You didn’t include the address! If you want people to visit before it closes, then you should include the current location.

  6. Why didn’t anyone ask the one question that remains unanswered: why aren’t Norm and Carol Heinle’s kids taking over the store? I’ve been a customer for over 25 years and every time I went to the store on a Saturday, Norm would always joke about how he’s ready to retire and let his kids run it. He use to talk about I think his daughter even went to school to learn how to run the business. Seems kinda fishy that no one has asked why he’s not turning it over to his kids when he used to tell everyone that’s what was going to happen for years?

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