Small Zip Code, Big Ideas: What I Learned in Newell

My job takes me into a lot of small towns. Evenings and weekends, I sit across tables from business owners and listen to how they got where they are. Most of what I hear never makes it into a marketing plan. Lately I’ve realized that part is often the best part.

A recent stop was Nieland Custom Meats in Newell, Iowa.

You may have heard the headline version. For more than 56 years, the Newell Locker was run by Aron Nieland’s grandfather and then his parents. It closed and sat empty for almost two years. Aron and his wife Crystal bought it, gutted it, rebuilt it to modern standards, and reopened it this spring. On opening day, the line for a pork burger stretched to Main Street.

That’s a good story. Here’s the part I got to see.

While Aron and Crystal answered my questions, their kids were outside drawing with sidewalk chalk and playing hide-and-seek. At one point, one of them was hiding so well that we had to pause the interview and go find them.

Then their only son Eli, 11, came in to tell me about his "job." His parents keep a map with pins showing where visitors come from, and keeping it up to date is his responsibility. He explained it with the seriousness of a department head. Some of the Nieland kids joined the family through adoption, and you would never know which ones by watching them together. This is a family business in the most literal sense.

When I got up to leave, they handed me a packet of pork burgers. I hadn’t bought anything. I’d just shown up.

That small gesture told me more about how they run their business than anything I’d asked.

Marketing without calling it marketing

I work in marketing, so I notice these things. The Nielands are good at it, though I doubt they’d describe it that way.

They tell the true story. Inside the shop, old newspaper clippings and the original butcher block from the first locker are on display. They don’t need a tagline about tradition when the evidence is hanging on the wall.

They know their customers. That pin map Eli tends is basically market research. It shows the Nielands at a glance how far people will drive for their pork burgers, and it gives every visitor a small way to become part of the story.

They lead with generosity. Their grand opening was a pork burger feed. They limited packs per family that day so the supply would last and more neighbors would get some.

They build around what the community actually needs. The county had lost its only local processor. Farmers were driving farther and waiting longer. The Nielands filled that gap first and then started adding what customers asked for: brats, specialty cuts, local honey and eggs.

And they don’t overcharge the people they’ll see on Monday morning. Crystal is a school guidance counselor, so many of the families who buy from them are families she sees at school every week. In a town this size, your reputation travels faster than any ad.

None of this came from a strategy deck, and all of it works.

Why I’m writing this

I met the Nielands while working with Iowa Lakes Corridor on a storytelling series about the people and businesses that make this region work. Their full video stories will be released in the coming months, and I can’t wait for you to see them.

FOLLOW IOWA LAKES CORRIDOR FOR THE RELEASE >>

But some moments don’t fit in a three-minute or even a ten-minute video. Kids playing hide-and-seek out front. A young map-keeper taking his job seriously. A packet of pork burgers handed to someone who hadn’t bought anything. Those are the moments I want to share here.

At Vertical Marketing + Design, we help businesses tell their stories well. Families like the Nielands remind me that the story usually already exists. My job is mostly to notice it and help more people see it. I feel lucky that I get to.

I’ll be sharing more of these in a series I’m calling Small Zip Code, Big Ideas, because some of the biggest ideas I’ve come across come from the smallest towns.

If you’re near Newell, stop in. Bring a cooler. And tell Eli where you’re from.

Nieland Custom Meats

206 W. Second St., Newell, Iowa

Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon

Follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587354453262

Small Zip Code, Big Ideas is an ongoing series about the people and businesses behind rural Iowa’s best ideas. Know a story I should hear? Let me know.

About Vertical Marketing + Design Vertical helps economic development organizations and multi-brand companies tell the stories that attract investment, businesses and talent. Let’s talk about yours →