Judy and Tom Mullen, their son, Darrick Mullen, and his girlfriend, Leia Farnham, all of Nest & Mullen, a custom butcher shop in Kennebunk. The business was able to reopen just weeks after a fire devastated the shop in September. Tammy Wells photo
KENNEBUNK – Back in September, a destructive fire swept through Nest & Mullen, a custom butcher shop with deep roots in Kennebunk.
With a lot of work, the small company on Perkins Lane was back in business a few weeks later, in a temporary building, with the help of others who lent their time, talent and equipment – from an excavator to refrigerated trucks – and others who provided space and more.
Those associated with the business are working hard, dealing with the day-to-day tasks and looking to the future, as they upgrade equipment and plan construction of a larger facility than the small, temporary quarters they built in a pinch.
The fire took much of the equipment, said Leia Farnham, so those involved in the business – Tom and Judy Mullen, their son, Darrick, and Farnham, took retired equipment out of storage and readied it for a return to service.
“Some things we had to purchase new,” said Farnham, like a meat smoker, and a bacon slicer. “We made use of what we had the best we could. We’re still short a lot of equipment.”
Custom butcher shops like Nest & Mullen, which traces its roots to the 1920s, are in demand. The state-inspected butcher shop provides processing for those who raise their own beef pork, lamb and goats – and there’s been more of that during the pandemic, said Farnham.
“It’s been very busy because people are raising their own meat now; there’s a big increase in hobby farming,” said Farnham. “Someone normally raising two beef a year are now raising three or four.”
Nest & Mullen was originally started by Charles Nest up the road from its current location. Charles’ son, Orrin, Judith Mullen’s father, moved it to its present location, said her husband, Tom.
When the fire erupted on Sept. 17, firefighters were able to save livestock at the property, but there was heavy damage to the buildings, and 17,000 pounds of meat was lost.
The outpouring of offers of assistance was appreciated, Tom Mullen said from the butcher shop week ago, where he and Darrick were cutting beef. A friend, Robin Day, of Belgrade, came with an excavator and stayed two weeks. A customer form Lebanon, builder, Steve Collins, came a day or so after the fire, he said.
“He and two others stayed and help build this,” said Tom.
There was assistance from Eldredge Lumber, Shields Meats and Windham Butcher. Ken’s Custom Meats in Biddeford has rented Nest & Mullen space in their shop one day a week. Electricians Tom Clark and plumber Bill Jewett were on the spot, Tom said, and Kennebunk’s Code Enforcement Office talked them through the permitting, while Fire Chief Jeff Rowe came by early on and provided information about the process of dealing with the aftermath when a fire happens. Their insurance company was in touch, and Kennebunk Light & Power District was prompt in getting the electricity back up and running, the four said.
Several folks offered to start funding pages on social media, but while appreciative of the offer, the family members said that just wasn’t their style.
There was other assistance – a $50,000 grant under the state’s Special Projects program and funded through the Community Development Block Grant program was the subject of a public hearing in Kennebunk in late April, and the application was unanimously endorsed by the select board.
Kennebunk Deputy Community Development Director Karen Winton said the company has been told it will receive the grant that will help them buy meat processing tools and equipment. Winton said Farnham worked with Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission to make the application and has been educating town staff about the importance of small meat processing operations in the bigger meat supply picture, especially after shortages realized during the pandemic.
Before the fire, Nest & Mullen were scheduled a year out. Now, that’s back up to nine months, Farnham estimated.
Tom Mullen said there’s a plan to rebuild bigger quarters and, in the meantime, they’re busy and there’s still work to be done as a result of the fire.
“We appreciate the nice people who helped us,” he said.
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