Nine months ago, the Kissing Cow was opened in Wellsville for an opportunity for Montgomery County residents to purchase farm fresh beef and pork.

Since then, the small store at 215 Hudson Street has been growing in popularity.

“We had a really good turnout from the community,” owner Sara Freie said. “There are still some people who don’t know we exist. The people who know that we’re here tend to tell other people. It’s been a lot of word of mouth getting business here, but we’ve been really blessed by the community showing up for us and we like to see that continue.”

Freie, her son Ethan and her mother Becky Rushing make up the staff of the Kissing Cow. It operated its business at vendors, fairs and farmer markets before moving to its current location. It is located next to Ponay’s, a resale shop that is owned by Sally Naysmith.

“This particular location is a vendor spot that was set up by Ponay’s,” Freie said. “(Naysmith) was kind of establishing a market. We’re her market at the moment. We’re hoping to get some more people to join us. She has spaces for the outside and inside markets. She gave us an inside spot so we can help keep a better eye on our little guy, Ethan. So we’ve been in this building since May of last year. Before that, we’ve been running as Kissing Cow for three years now.”

The Kissing Cow, which is open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, sells beef and pork by the cut as well as steaks and roast. All of the meat is hormone free and is raised by Freie Farm in Middletown. Freie’s husband, Mark, is the owner of the farm, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in May.

“My husband has been raising cattle for over 10 years,” Freie said. “He always wanted to bring the meat to people by the cut. Not everybody can afford a whole, half or quarter. Sometimes, they just want a good steak. What we’re trying to provide here is the opportunity for them to get a hold of a good steak at an affordable price.”

Freie said family members collaborated to come up with the name of the store.

“My husband and I have been married for only four years and we each have kids from previous marriages,” Freie said. “As we were discussing names for the Kissing Cow, (my husband’s) daughter Emma said, ‘How about kiss my cow?’ We’re like, ‘Well, that’s cute, but it’s a little aggressive.’ That’s how Kissing Cow came about. It was her little tongue-in-cheek kiss my cow. We’re like, ‘Kissing Cow sounds cute.’”

Freie said since the Kissing Cow is celebrating its 1-year anniversary at its new location in May, her mission is to bring more handmade items to the store.

“The one thing we’re always bringing in is honey,” Freie said. “We do have honey bees and once they’re in their production season, we’ll have more honey to sell. We had some last year. We also have chickens now, so we’re going to be providing fresh eggs in the future.”

For more information, call 573-484-6894.