Omaha Exploration

Nearly 50 years after his father Lazar Shames founded a packing house and meat market in Riga, Latvia, his son fled his homeland to avoid religious persecution. J. J. along with his wife Ethel and son B. A. were a part of the third wave of Jewish immigration to the U.S. After passing through Ellis Island in 1898, they chose Simon as their American name. From there they boarded a train headed west to Omaha which saw its population increase due to the development of the meat packing industry. Omaha reminded them of the farm country they left behind.

Father and son worked as butchers back home so they knew the meat business well when they got here. Even so, it wasn’t until 1917 that they founded their own company at 14th and Jackson. The building had belonged to a carpentry shop named Table Supply Company which made tables and chairs. They altered the existing sign by moving “CO” from the company name to the right and sliding in the word “Meat” before it. After moving both a cooler and freezer into the building, they opened the doors to Table Supply Meat Company. 

As the small shop earned a reputation for fine cuts of meat, it relocated in 1924 to 1211 Howard in the area that would become the Old Market. B.A. would take over the family business after his father passed away in 1925. From its early days it supplied restaurants and institutions with high quality meat. Eventually that expanded to local supermarkets and then national grocery chains and hotel restaurants. B.A.’s son Lester joined the company in 1929 and helped further expand its distribution by brokering a deal with the Union Pacific Railroad in 1942 to serve its steaks in the dining car of trains that traveled between Omaha, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

In 1952 the company launched a mail order business due to requests from customers who wanted to send its steaks to friends and family around the country. In order to do so, Omaha Steaks packed containers with steaks and dry ice before loading them onto a train. B. A. passed away in 1955 before they ran their first ad for mail-order steaks in The New Yorker in 1958. They have since become the longest running advertiser in that publication.

Catalogs were first mailed to customers starting in 1963 at which point they eventually expanded the business to offer poultry, pork, seafood, sides and desserts in addition to its steaks. The business continued to expand and by 1966 they changed their name to Omaha Steaks International. The name was chosen in order to capitalize on and enhance Omaha’s growing reputation as the steak capital of the world.They company opened its new plant at 96th and I St in 1966.  

Until 1976, customers could only get Omaha Steaks by eating at restaurants or ordering it from the catalog. To make the product even more accessible, they opened their first retail store in Omaha that year. They further expanded their retail operations in 1985 when they opened a store in Houston, the first outside of Nebraska. As of today, Omaha Steaks has 85 retail stores throughout the country. 

Today Omaha Steaks remains a privately owned company with two meat processing plants and distribution centers in Omaha along with its headquarters. The city’s 24th largest employer as of 2020 continues to source its beef from farms throughout the heartland rather than cheaper locations such as South America or Australia. Until recently, the company which is one of the world’s most esteemed meat purveyors, was operated by members of the Simon family.

I’d love to hear what you have to say so please feel free to comment. Until next time, keep exploring!

Bonus Pics