Gary Darlage, left, owner of Darlage Custom Meats in Seymour, has space inside his store featuring products from Hackman Family Farm Market, represented by Tom Hackman, right. Zach Spicer

Two sisters recently walked into the new location of Darlage Custom Meats in Seymour.

One was there to buy fresh meat, while the other a vegetarian, was surprised to walk in, look to the right and find fresh produce.

Hackman Family Farm Market, which has locations in Vallonia and Salem, now has produce and preserves available for purchase inside the store at the left end of West Towne Plaza at 1107 W. Tipton St., Suite A.

Also, Rumpy’s Pepper Spread, which is based in Brownstown, has its unique products available for purchase.

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Gary Darlage, who has owned Darlage Custom Meats for 15 years, said that’s just the start of the local offerings in his store.

Products from Marion-Kay Spices, Horselick Creek Apiary and A and S Jerky are available, too, and popcorn from the Pottschmidts of Dudleytown will be added soon.

Moving from the far west side of Seymour and opening in mid-April, Darlage said it was his intent to fill part of his new space with local products.

“There have been a few other things come in that I really wasn’t expecting, but we thought about getting some local people in with us,” he said.

This past winter, talk about a partnership started between Darlage and Tom Hackman.

“We’ve been wanting to be in Seymour for a long time, just never have found property up here,” Hackman said. “Whenever Gary came up here, for us, we were thinking it might provide an opportunity for us to work with him, but we didn’t know.”

Darlage said he wound up with more extra space inside his business than he anticipated.

“We were trying to think of different local places, local things to get in to bring people in, and they came to mind,” he said of Hackman Family Farm Market. “We’re actually cousins. (Tom’s) grandfather and my grandmother were twin brother and sister.”

As Darlage had the interior of the business renovated, that gave the Hackman family time to order displays and have a sign made.

One of Hackman’s daughters, Jacquelyn Jasinski, recently left a corporate job to help on the farm. She’s glad to be back as the business expands its offerings to Seymour.

“We’re over the moon about it,” she said. “We wanted to be in Seymour. We’ve been looking for a while. We have a good customer base in Salem, and Vallonia is great … but there’s just not enough people to make it big.”

Hackman Family Farm Market built a small clientele as a vendor at the Seymour Area Farmers Market for the past couple of years, but Jasinski said that was just once a week during the market months.

Being inside Darlage Custom Meats year-round will be a benefit, she said.

“This is a way for us to be here all of the time, a place for them to come get anything local that they are looking for, which I think is becoming more and more popular,” Jasinski said. “I think people are willing to go out of their way or maybe spend a little extra to know where things come from or to know what they are putting in their bodies anyway, so that’s what they can do whenever they come here.”

Right now, the only produce grown by the Hackman family available for purchase are zucchini, squash and cucumbers. Other produce and the preserves are being shipped in.

When it’s ready, they plan to add their own tomatoes, peppers, watermelon and other produce.

“We’ll keep selling our preserves and butters and dried goods year-round,” Jasinski said. “We haven’t decided if we want to keep bringing produce in year-round since it won’t be ours. We’ve got to make those decisions here this fall if we want to keep doing it. It kind of depends on how the summer goes, too. It’s all so new, so we’re getting the word out.”

On the meat side, Darlage offers a variety of meats and plans to add lunch meats and cheeses.

“I think we’re real happy with how it has turned out,” he said of the new location. “I think we’ll just get a lot more walk-up business and people driving by and seeing that we’re here.”

Darlage Custom Meats is no stranger to partnering with other local businesses. Its products can be found on menus at local eateries.

Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people in a variety of ways, Darlage said it’s good to see other local businesses come together inside his store.

“I think where we come from out in the rural area, just everybody works together and helps each other,” he said.

Jasinski likes how the small businesses are willing to go out of their way to support each other any way they can.

“With these two, I feel like it’s less business and more passion,” she said of her father and Darlage. “As I’ve been around these two, the more I’m learning they both love what they do. Dad loves farming. Gary loves cutting meat.”

Darlage said he used to farm, too, but he hasn’t missed it a bit the last few years.

“They love what they are doing, and this is a way that we can share it with the public,” Jasinski said.

“It was really an honor for us to be able to work with Gary because he’s like the premier meat dude in the entire area,” Hackman said. “I think Gary has the same attitude about it that I do. You put your best out there and you back up what you’re doing and treat people with courtesy.”

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Darlage Custom Meats is now in the West Towne Plaza at 1107 W. Tipton St., Suite A, Seymour.

For information, call 812-522-1635, visit darlagecustommeats.com, find the business on Facebook or email [email protected].

The store also carries products from Hackman Family Farm Market, Marion-Kay Spices, Rumpy’s Pepper Spread, A and S Jerky and Horselick Creek Apiary. Other local products will be coming soon.

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