THE HISTORY OF KONOPELSKI MEATS

1920 to 2020 One Hundred Years of Quality

The Konopelski Meats story began four generation ago in 1903. Louis Konopelski, a poor Polish immigrant who worked for a butcher in Poland, arrived in America with nothing but the clothes on his back and a recipe for Polish Kielbasa in his pocket. He met his future wife Teodozya “Fannie” (Shelak) Sech on the boat coming to America, but they didn’t marry. Louis married Anastasia Fir and had seven children.  Thodozya married and had one daughter.  Thodozya ran a small grocery store located on 7th and Canal streets in Reading, Pennsylvania.  As fate would have it, each of their spouses died, and in 1920 they married and had three children. Rose, Joseph, and Francis.  Louis began making and selling Polish meats in the corner store.  It did not take long for the reputation of Konopelski’s Polish Kielbasa to grow in the town.  Son’s Joseph and Francis (Fidge) worked with their father.  The business grew and expanded to include a grocery store on Willow Street and one on Cotton Street both in Reading, Pennsylvania. Today the business is run by Francis’s son Patrick and his son Ryan who use the same recipe that Louis brought to America over a hundred years ago

Francis and Joseph Konopelski standing inside the Cotton Street Store.
In 1947, the two youngest children Joseph and Francis, decided to carry on the tradition that Louis began at the beginning of the century shown here standing inside the Cotton Street Store.
Mrs. Juraszinski, Anna Lykens, and Theodozya standing in front of the first store.

 

In 1947, the two youngest children Joseph and Francis, decided to carry on the tradition that Louis began at the beginning of the century.
 

*We need a photo of Patrick and Ryan in front of a large batch  of Kielbasa coming out of the smoke house.*

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