CLEVELAND — While in culinary school Melissa Khoury didn't see her career ending up where it did.

What You Need To Know

  • Saucisson has been in business for more than seven years

  • Saucisson calls Slavic Village home and is happy to be apart of something bigger than itself

  • Melissa Khoury is the butcher and owner at Saucisson and loves what she does 

To be honest, it's not a typical career.

“Honestly, I didn't even consider that this would be a trade or profession that I could do,” said Khoury, owner and butcher of Saucisson. “Something just clicked for me."

Originally from Cleveland, she started her career in the south.

Now, calling the Slavic Village neighborhood home, she brings a taste of her time in the south to her business.

The number of female butchers wasn't high when Khoury got in the business.

However, it's trending up with just under 27% of full-time butchers in the United States being women.

But that's not something Khoury has ever really been a fan of.

"My biggest thing is why does it have to be man or woman. Why can't it be this person is doing this really cool thing, or they've worked really hard to get here,” Khoury said.

She's been in business for seven years, but storefront for almost four.

After researching of different sites in the Cleveland-area, she landed on her spot in Slavic Village.

“The biggest thing we kept coming back to is we wanted to be apart of something,” Khoury said.

Slavic Village is a Cleveland neighborhood that's been hit hard in the foreclosure crisis.

Khoury said it's been great to see the growth she's seen in the neighborhood in the short time she's been here.

“The biggest thing I can say is everyone who is in this neighborhood wants it to come back,” Khoury said.

Her business, and others like it, are moving into the neighborhood breathing new life into an area that's happy to have them.

“We have to make sure that neighborhoods that are working to come back are getting the equal opportunity of positive news with the bad news,” Khoury said.

She has already seen a shift in the area and looks forward to seeing that continue.

“I look forward to the growth of the neighborhood," Khoury said. "(In), March we celebrate four years and I can't wait for another four, 10, 40 years.”

They offer a ton of different options from meat to dinners that just need to be warmed up.

To learn more about Khoury's business, click here to visit saucissoncleveland.com.