Popular LV meat supplier Schulman dies

Thursday, April 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Young housewives unfamiliar with their way around a kitchen could go to Al Schulman for good advice on preparing meat for dinner.

A lot of Las Vegas bachelors also would go into his butcher shop at 3010 S. Valley View Blvd. to get meat preparation tips not available at grocery stores.

Nearly every hotel-casino and restaurant in town for a quarter of a century knew that the place to go for consistency and quality was Schulman Meats.

In short, Schulman was long responsible for putting good meals on the tables of a great many Southern Nevada families and business establishments.

Albert "Al" Schulman, a personable businessman known also for his generosity to numerous Las Vegas charities, died Sunday at Columbia Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center from complications following heart surgery. He was 85.

"Al would always take the time to help people who didn't know the difference between a veal shank and a sweetbread (the thymus gland of a young animal)," said Muriel Stevens, SUN food editor and a longtime friend.

"When I did my national cable television cooking show, all I ever used was Schulman Meat products. They had consistency because he sold to all of the area hotels and restaurants, which required equal portions to serve, and they were high-quality products."

Services for the 57-year Las Vegas resident were Tuesday at Palm Mortuary. Interment was in Palm Valley View Memorial Park.

Schulman opened his butcher shop and commercial meat plant in 1959 and sold it in 1986. When the Kansas City businessman who bought it went bankrupt in 1988, Schulman, then 77, took the business back and resurrected it from the ashes.

"Of course, many old customers were happy he took it back, but Al really had wanted to retire," Stevens said. "However, he felt he had to reopen it because it had his name on it, and Al did not want Schulman Meats to disappear under a cloud.

"He eventually closed it -- but under his terms and with dignity."

Born May 7, 1911, in Minsk, Russia, Schulman went into the butcher business at age 15. He came to Las Vegas in 1940.

After opening his shop, the business grew steadily. By the late 1970s, he announced a $500,000 expansion plan that would make Schulman Meats the largest meat processing plant in Nevada.

Its commercial clients included not only hotels and restaurants but also the Clark County School District. The company did a booming business for holidays, which included selling 3,000 turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In 1978, Schulman Meats expanded from 10,000 square feet to 22,000 square feet and increased its staff by 25 percent. At that time, Schulman employed 10 butchers.

"These were actual butchers, not meat wrappers like you find today in grocery stores," Stevens said. "They knew all of the secrets about meat preparation. And they were friendly and helpful. They even took the time to share recipes."

By the time the shop changed hands in the mid-1980s, other meat processing businesses were coming on the scene and Schulman no longer had a corner on the Las Vegas meat market.

When the business went under, Schulman was confident he could breathe life back into it.

"It is going to be a long haul and difficult," Schulman told the SUN for a story that was published April 17, 1988. "It's very difficult to bring back a company that has violated the confidence of its customers the last couple of years."

But bring it back he did. Schulman and longtime friend Pat Tunzi formed a partnership with Frontier Meat Co. of Southern California to finance the return of Schulman Meats.

By 1990, Schulman, in declining health, was serving in an advisory capacity.

"He had such a sweetness about him," Stevens said. "When you walked into his shop, Al made you feel like you were among friends."

Schulman is survived by his wife, Fay Schulman of Las Vegas; two sons, Barry Schulman of Los Angeles and David Schwartz of Tucson, Ariz.; two daughters, Marsha Cohen of Oakland, Calif., and Judy Gaines of Las Vegas; two brothers, Mark Schulman and Sam Schulman, both of Los Angeles; nine grandchildren; and four great grandchildren.