Local News

Cambridge’s famous ‘Live Poultry, Fresh Killed’ sign could be yours

The Mayflower Poultry shop is closing its doors and auctioning off its iconic sign at the end of the month.

The sign, a tourist favorite, was trademarked by the owner in 2005. Pat Greenhouse / Globe Staff

August 4, 2021

2 minutes to read

After 89 years, Mayflower Poultry in East Cambridge will close its doors, ending an era for the local butcher shop. Located at 621 Cambridge St., the shop is known for its iconic sign out front, which reads “Live Poultry, Fresh Killed.”

The sign, which owner Jim Gould trademarked in 2005, is a tourist attraction in Cambridge, and garnered such interest that the shop has used it to sell “Live Poultry, Fresh Killed” merchandise. However, despite its famous sign, the butcher shop has not killed chickens for many years, Gould said; 90 to 95% of Mayflower’s revenue comes from their wholesale presence.

Now, that presence is moving elsewhere.

“The building got sold, so we have to relocate … Not that we wouldn’t have loved to have kept [the sign] but, we’re moving and there’s nowhere for the sign to go,” Gould told Boston.com.

The Mayflower was hard hit by COVID-19, like many other small businesses. Although they were able to keep their doors open through some retail presence, their main wholesale business plummeted after restaurants were hit by the pandemic. Gould estimates that 20% of their restaurant wholesale customers closed permanently.

Throughout the pandemic, they continued to pay their employees but had to take on some debt to keep the business afloat. Through hard decisions, Gould decided to relocate their wholesales to Boston Meat Market. At their new location, they will not have a retail presence.

“I mean, it’s just really unfortunate because we loved the interaction with a lot of regular customers,” Gould said. “But unfortunately, at the end of the day, all that business doesn’t add up to enough, really, even to pay for two employees, let alone the rent on a building.”

With the store closing, Gould decided the best decision would be to auction the sign, which is scheduled to take place Aug. 26. The money from the auction will go towards the debt they had accumulated, as well as donations to charity. His children, who see the sign as part of a family tradition, are not happy to see it go, he said.

“I’m not sure I’m going to stay for sure [at the auction] because I don’t want to be crying in front of everyone,” Gould said. “I think maybe I’ll wait to get the word.”

Mayflower was recognized as a historical building by the National Historic Register in 1982 because of its architectural significance as the Union Railway Car Barn built in 1862. Because of that, any proposals for changes on the building must be brought to the city of Cambridge.

Recently, the building was acquired for $5 million and renovations are underway. The hearing by the city of Cambridge for the proposals on new changes is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Gould had thought about buying the building 20 years ago, but the owner was not selling at the time. Now, gentrification has contributed to an influx of money pouring into that area of Cambridge, making the price of the building soar.

“This building was uniquely suited for us … and it was everything we wanted,” Gould said. “We would’ve stayed here forever, but unfortunately, money talks and these days, there’s a lot of money around.”