The Market at 216 Ranch held their grand opening in Monkey Island, Okla. on the same weekend that panic and fear of the coronavirus pandemic struck the world and halted most U.S. businesses. Against all odds, with high-quality beef and their faith-based business model, Randy and Mary Williams triumphed despite the shutdowns that swept the nation.

A well-known stop for vacationers to the Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees, The Market at 216 Ranch is a Hereford-themed local meat market dedicated to providing local products to the community. It also represents the Williams’ dream to establish their market on land originally purchased to raise registered Hereford bulls, a market to sell Certified Hereford Beef®, along with carcasses and cuts from their herd.

Randy recalls the market’s opening day and how the shutdowns impacted their opening week.

“After all our hard work, our opening day was, unfortunately, the weekend America shut down because of the pandemic,” he says. “However, the good Lord helped our family and the community in this time of need because out-of-town homeowners came to shelter-in-place at their lake houses and bought up all our beef.”

Their store maintained a satisfied customer base through a consistent supply of Certified Hereford Beef throughout the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

“During the pandemic and shutdowns, my supplier of Certified Hereford Beef never had any problem getting us the inventory we needed,” Randy explains. “Even though we raise our own Herefords and sell some in-store, we couldn’t remotely meet the demands of our customers, so Certified Hereford Beef was naturally the best option for our store.”

Aside from its consistent and reliable supply, the Certified Hereford Beef Premium program diversifies The Market at 216 Ranch from other surrounding stores and elevates it to the best meat market in the area.

“Our business model revolves around being in a niche and not carrying commoditized products,” Randy says. “Therefore, selling Certified Hereford Beef was the best move we could have made.”

The Market at 216 Ranch draws a loyal following from the local community, the aforementioned vacationers, as well as visitors to the Shangri-La Resort and Marina.

“Our customers come to this area to drive their boats around on the lake, play a round of golf, and then grill the best steaks for their family and friends,” Randy explains. “They want to be a top chef while entertaining their guests, and we can help them with that by providing the best steaks in town.”

Aside from soaking up the sun on the lake and enjoying time with family and friends, Monkey Island vacationers place local shopping among their top priorities.

“Our store values carrying locally made products, and our customers love it,” Randy says. “We have a large variety of products, aside from our beef, and almost all those products are made within 20 miles of our store.”

Williams believes that The Market at 216 Ranch’s success is a testament to his family’s faith and their desire to help anyone with whom they cross paths.

“We’re a faith-driven business, and we don’t think any of our success is by incident or accident,” Randy says. “We believe that we have this store to be a provider to others, and that’s one of our favorite parts of how The Market at 216 Ranch serves our community.”

The Williams family planned to open a second area location in February. When visiting the Monkey Island area, stop by one of their locations for a large selection of high-quality beef, local products, and friendly service. If unable to visit in person, Hereford “Ranch Boxes,” are available to order online at www.216ranch.com.