For five straight falls, Jeremy Scavazzo took his son to the pumpkin patch at Seiple Farms on Nor-Bath Boulevard in East Allen Township. This summer he and his wife, Allison, bought the building next door.
The address is 5751 Nor-Bath Boulevard, a three-tenant commercial property last occupied by a luxury resale boutique and an HVAC company. By this fall it is meant to be Scavazzo’s Gilded Cleaver, a family-owned butcher shop and provisions market, and the culmination of something Scavazzo has been pointed at since he was a kid working under his grandfather.
“The dream was to always own my own shop one day,” he said when the sale closed. “I always said if I was going to get back into the business, I wanted to do it for myself, be my own boss, and that’s what’s happening.”
Three Generations and 150 Recipes
The trade goes back to the early 1960s and to a man named Vincent Scavazzo, Jeremy’s grandfather, who started Dotti-Lou Meat & Catering in Tunkhannock. Jeremy’s father, also named Vincent, later took it over. Jeremy worked under both of them for years, which is a longer apprenticeship than most people in any trade get.
What he carried out of it is unusually concrete.
“I have more than 150 original recipes handed down from my grandfather,” Scavazzo said. “We’ll offer a combination of those family recipes and products and recipes we develop ourselves.”
“You’ll see some similar recipes and products because they come from the same family foundation,” Scavazzo said. “We also have our own plans and are developing new products and flavors using what I learned from my grandfather.”
He is also careful about where the line sits. His father took over his grandfather’s original business, but the new shop is its own enterprise. “Scavazzo’s Gilded Cleaver has no business or personal relationship with any other butcher shop or its current owners,” he said. “There is no affiliation, shared ownership or association of any kind.”
One member of the previous generation will be there, though. Jeremy’s grandmother Catherine, who helped run the original operation for decades, is “very happy for us and plans to help in any way she can,” Scavazzo said. She has been advising on recipes and on which products to carry.
“I’m sure you’ll see her behind the counter when we open,” Scavazzo said. She has been “filling in some of the gaps when it comes to remembering exactly how my grandfather did certain things.”
The fourth generation is in the building too, in a manner of speaking. The Scavazzos’ youngest son is five, and according to his father he is already eager to learn.
Where the Name Came From
“Gilded Cleaver” sounds like a branding exercise. It is actually a family in-joke hiding in plain sight.
“Gilded” is a nod to Allison’s maiden name, Goldfeder, and to the more elevated feel the couple wanted for the shop. “Cleaver” is the tool of the trade. “Scavazzo” ties back to the grandfather who taught him. The whole lineage of the business, both sides of it, is compressed into three words on a sign.
Two Smokehouses, on Purpose
The buildout merges two units into a single shop with a temperature-controlled prep room, existing walk-in cooler and freezer infrastructure, and two custom smokehouses. Two is a lot for a shop this size, and Scavazzo knows it.
“It was very intentional because we want to be known for our smoked meat offerings,” he said. “Having two gives us flexibility to run different products and smoking schedules at the same time, while also giving us room to grow.”
What Goes in the Case
Scavazzo is complimentary about the butchers already working in the Valley and does not pitch this as a fight with them. “We have a lot of respect for the established butchers in the Valley,” he said.
What he is betting on instead is a specific combination. The counter will carry custom and specialty cuts, house-made sausage, and a large selection of meats smoked on site, running from his family’s traditional kielbasa and jerky through specialty smoked products he is developing himself. Cuts are done by hand. Lunch meats are sliced to order.
“What differentiates us is the combination of traditional butchery and custom cuts with a major focus on the specialty products we make ourselves,” Scavazzo said.
Deli lunch meats, charcuterie boards, gourmet cheeses and prepared meals are all on the longer list, along with the full-service deer processing. The shop bills itself as a gourmet butcher shop and provisions market, and the standard the couple has published is blunter than most mission statements: nothing leaves the counter that they would not put on their own table.
His read on why an old-school butcher counter can work in 2026 is straightforward. “A lot of grocery-store meat today is already cut and packaged, with limited ability to ask for something different,” he said. “I think people are looking for more than what they can get at a grocery store, and there’s a renewed interest in the old-school butcher shop experience.”
Opening Day and What Comes After
One thing has changed since the announcement. Rather than opening on smoked meats alone and adding categories later, the Gilded Cleaver will open as a full butcher shop and grow from there.
“We will open as a full butcher shop,” Scavazzo said. “From there, we’ll expand based on customer demand, capacity and what we can execute well. We’d rather add products intentionally than try to do everything on day one.”
Suppliers are not locked in yet, which for a shop selling itself on quality is the decision that matters most. “We’re currently talking with several well-established, trusted suppliers, but we haven’t finalized any supplier agreements yet,” he said. “Quality, consistency and the ability to meet our standards will ultimately determine who we partner with.”
The Deer Season Question
Full-service deer processing is part of the plan, and in Pennsylvania that is not a small offering. Processors across the state have been turning hunters away in recent seasons, a shortage severe enough that Penn State Extension has run workshops teaching hunters to butcher their own animals.
The timing is tight. Pennsylvania’s statewide archery season opens October 3, firearms deer season opens November 28, and the Gilded Cleaver is still in construction.
Scavazzo is not promising anything he cannot deliver.
“Deer processing is something we definitely want to offer,” he said. “We don’t want to overcommit this season until we know construction, inspections and approvals are on track. If we can be fully prepared to do it properly this season, we will. If not, we’ll plan for the 2027 season. We’d rather be realistic with hunters than promise something before we’re ready.”
The Butcher and the Balance Sheet
Jeremy runs the retail floor and the meat production. Allison, a senior corporate finance leader, runs everything else: budgeting, forecasting, cash flow, margins.
“My day job brings the financial side, the budgeting, forecasting, cash flow, understanding margins and knowing when the numbers don’t make sense,” she said. “I’m used to looking at a business from the numbers up and asking a lot of questions before we make decisions. That experience has been really valuable here.”
It is a useful pairing, and by her account not a frictionless one.
“We disagree plenty, but we actually balance each other pretty well,” Allison said. “Jeremy knows the trade and the operational side, and I look at the cost, margins and whether the investment makes sense. Most of the time, it ends with Jeremy explaining why something is absolutely necessary and me making him prove it.”
How the Deal Came Together
Buying a commercial building is its own trade, and the Scavazzos were learning it while Jeremy was still planning a meat counter. Commercial financing for the acquisition was arranged by Jeff Barber of Lehigh Financial Group in Allentown, with funding for the loan provided by 44 Business Capital.
“Jeff was just really knowledgeable, really great to work with,” Allison said of the financing. “He was one of our most important resources throughout this. Whenever we didn’t know what to do, he was our first call. He answered every question, he was very patient with me. I can’t imagine working with anyone else.”
Barber, for his part, framed the appeal of the deal in terms of what the two of them brought to it. “Jeremy and Allison bring an incredible mix of heritage, hands-on trade skills, and corporate finance expertise to this launch,” he said. “Guiding local entrepreneurs through the complex process of securing financing for their lifelong goals is what drives our team.”
The real estate transaction was brokered by listing agents Nick D’Egidio and Mario D’Egidio of Coletta Commercial Realty, who represented both the buyers and the seller. Legal counsel for the buyers came from Rob Jacobs of Easton.
Demolition and interior buildout were scheduled to begin immediately after closing, on a two-month plan to merge the two units into one shop.
Why Here
The building did what buildings are supposed to do on a spreadsheet: visibility, easy access, parking, enough room for both a retail floor and a production operation, and space to expand. But the couple did not pick East Allen Township off a listing sheet.
Allison has lived in the Lehigh Valley her whole life. Jeremy has been here more than ten years. And the pumpkin patch they have taken their son to every fall for five years, Seiple Farms, has been family-owned since 1889 and sits at 5761 Nor-Bath Boulevard, ten house numbers and a few hundred feet from their front door.
“We also love that it’s right next to Seiple Farms, where we’ve taken our son to the pumpkin patch every fall for the last five years,” Scavazzo said.
“The Valley is home for us,” he said, “and it felt like the right place to build something of our own.”
A grand opening date has not been set. “It’s going to come down to the timelines for construction, inspections and final approvals,” Scavazzo said. “We’ll share more details as we get closer to opening.”
At a Glance
- What: Scavazzo’s Gilded Cleaver, a family-owned butcher shop and provisions market
- Where: 5751 Nor-Bath Boulevard, East Allen Township, next door to Seiple Farms
- Who: Jeremy Scavazzo, third-generation butcher and head butcher, and Allison Scavazzo, handling finance and business planning
- The lineage: Grandfather Vincent Scavazzo founded Dotti-Lou Meat & Catering in Tunkhannock in the early 1960s; Jeremy’s father, also Vincent, later took it over; Jeremy trained under both
- The recipe box: More than 150 original recipes handed down from his grandfather
- Opening with: A full butcher shop. Custom and specialty cuts, house-made sausage, lunch meats sliced to order, and in-house smoked meats including traditional kielbasa and jerky
- Also planned: Deli lunch meats, charcuterie boards, gourmet cheeses, prepared meals and full-service deer processing
- The build: Two units merged into one shop, a temperature-controlled prep room, walk-in cooler and freezer, and two custom smokehouses
- Deer processing: Planned, but not promised for the 2026 season. A 2027 start is possible if construction and inspections run long
- Opening date: Not yet set, pending construction, inspections and final approvals
- The deal: Financing arranged by Jeff Barber of Lehigh Financial Group, funded by 44 Business Capital; brokered by Nick and Mario D’Egidio of Coletta Commercial Realty, who represented both sides; buyers’ counsel Rob Jacobs of Easton
- Online: ScavazzosGildedCleaver.com
