Schromges, 66, has owned and operated Deutsches Eck, named after his hometown in Germany, on Lincoln’s Gerald St since 2011. The shop will close at the end of the month.
When asked why he was retiring, Schromges said: “The simple answer is that I am a pensioner now.”
Schromges has decided he will not be part of the redevelopment of the block of shops he is based in on the corner of Gerald and Robert Sts.
Work on the hospitality and retail precinct called Lincoln Village is planned to start in the middle of next year and will be built in five stages over two to four years. Deutsches Eck will make way for a two-storey gastro-style restaurant and bar.
Developer Shaun Pont, who is leading the new precinct project, said a new butchery would be part of the development.
Schromges is in negotiations with Templeton Butchery to sell his equipment and provide training on how to make his specialty products.
Despite his impending retirement, Schromges will still be taking personal care of his annual Christmas ham orders, likely from the Templeton Butchery.
“The hams have been an enormous success. People, since last month, have already been asking when they can place their order.”
“I’ve run over 300 marathons, over 200 ultra marathons.”
Three or four times a week he still runs 10km between Lincoln and Kakaha Park in Prebbleton.
“In a year, I can run more than I drive. I average about 3000km running and 1500km driving.”
In the next few years, Schromges hopes to compete in a 67.6km ultramarathon in Switzerland, which includes a vertical climb of more than 2600m.
“I’ve always wanted to run that race,” he said.
For Schromges, running provides a way to disconnect.
“It helps you to switch off. You see, if you do a team sport, at the end of the day, you always work on related issues.
“If you go to the pub, you always talk about what annoys you at work. I put on the running shoes, and there is no pressure,” he said.
Schromges was born in Germany but spent part of his childhood in South Africa during the 1960s. He later returned to Germany to train as a butcher, but his first job was back in South Africa during the 1980s.
“I went on a holiday to meet my school mates and then a German picked up that I could make sausages and he offered me a job.”
While plying his trade in Johannesburg, he experienced four armed robberies, which prompted him to look for a change in 2005.
“I took my chances to see what New Zealand was like because I’d never been here before. Now it has been 20 years, and I’m still stuck,” he said.
Before buying what was then Lincoln Village Meats, Schromges worked as a consultant for Austrian spice company Wiberg.
Reflecting on his career, he said: “I have never advertised for a job anywhere in the world; jobs always came to me.”
