Jack Melton went from the retail department store business in Georgia to the ham business in Dallas some 15 years ago when he brought the Glazed Honey Ham Company to town. The company’s unique curing and cooking process offers a one-of-a-kind, bone-in, smoked ham that, for many, has become a holiday tradition.

Over the years, the business has steadily grown, an example of business roots going deep into the Lake Highlands community. Melton has gone from one “holiday ham store” to four.

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William Robert Williams, manager of the Lake Highlands store, 10224 Northwest Highway across from Northlake Shopping Center, has done everything from working in the smokehouse to driving a company delivery truck.

“Everybody in my family has worked for the company,” Williams says. “This is my first year as a manager, and last year at Christmas, when I saw the line going down the sidewalk and around the corner, I worried that people would get mad, that they’d be grumpy when they got inside.”

But that wasn’t what happened, Williams says.

“It’s a holiday tradition to go down to the holiday ham store, to wait in line, talk with your neighbors, and then bring home that delicious spiral-cut ham. It’s a holiday tradition for a lot of people.”

Christmas and Easter are the store’s two busiest holidays, but Williams says Thanksgiving is “getting busier every year as more and more people find out that we’re here and that we also have whole smoked and Cajun turkeys available.”

You can also find specialty items such as horseradish mustard, potato soup mix and ready-to-bake tins (feeding up to 16) of green beans, broccoli and cheese casserole, and macaroni and cheese. Pick a pecan or pumpkin pie for dessert, and your holiday dinner will be complete.