As a number of readers have noticed, Bill the Butcher has hung a sign in the window:
Due to circumstances beyond our control we are closed until further notice.
Thank you for your support, your patronage and welcoming us to your neighborhood. We hope to see you soon.
I put in an inquiry to Bill the Butcher’s PR agent for more information, but haven’t heard back, but apparently all the Bill the Butcher shops, not just Wallingford’s branch, are similarly shuttered.
Financial problems aren’t new to BtB. The company took an unusual path to become the first publicly traded butcher shop, executing a reverse takeover, but has had trouble raising money in the public market. Back in 2011, The Eater reported that BtB was down to $40,000 in cash, a dangerous position for a company of that size that needs to buy inventory, pay workers, etc.
According to BtB’s web site, the company is the “is the brainchild of retail expert J’Amy Owens”. Not mentioned is J’Amy’s co-founder, William “Bill” Von Schneidau, who the The Stranger reported (again, back in 2011):
were lovers and business partners who didn’t care to label their purportedly local/organic meat; now some labeling has happened, and their romance is no more. You may recall this memorable quote:
“William’s the steak and I’m the sizzle in our partnership… I can’t tell you what to buy and how to cook it,” Owens says, “but William can, all the livelong day.”
King County Court filings show that Von Schneidau is suing Bill the Butcher, Inc. and J’Amy Owens et al. for breach of contract, wrongful termination, and “willfully making illegal securities filings in connection with the Company’s becoming a publicly traded company.”
Mention of Von Scheidau disappeared from the company web site around the same time.
(Thanks for the photo Joseph Mizrahi. Thanks for the tip, Janey, Judith and Jeff!)
Discover more from Wallyhood
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
too many vegetarians here 🙂
Now they can leave a banner on their storefront for 2 years that says Leaving soon.”
This story about their financial woes was in the Sunday paper: http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2024686311_sundaybuzz05xml.html
“retail expert J’Amy Owens”. Huh, with such “expertise,” she’d be a shoo-in for the City Council, or maybe to take over the tunnel or revive the monorail.
If anyone is interested, you can still shop from the original Bill at BB Meats in the Pike Place Market (inside the Sanitary Market.) It’s super fun and I always learn something from him. Sad to lose a butcher shop I could walk to, though.
As a mineralogist might say, “I have no apatite for suck things”.
NPI
Oops! Correction:
As a mineralogist might say, “I have no apatite for such things”.
(And OK, PI.)
In addition to the questionable business practices and quality of their products, I was continually underwhelmed with the customer service. It was horrible. I loved the idea of a local butcher and hope one day to have another, but a bit more reputable and nicer!
This was inevitable. As soon as J’Amy Owens got control away from Bill Von Schneidau, she was going to drive this operation straight off a cliff. Amazing it lasted as long as it did. I would say she’s a con artist except she’s neither smart nor sane enough to execute a competent con. Good riddance, and everybody should go shop with the Original Bill, or Rain Shadow. Both are reputable and trustworthy, and feature good products and good service.
I know they were controversial, but I loved having a butcher shop a block from my house. Figured their meat wasn’t any more questionable than what we get at QFC. Don’t eat that much meat, but they had a few things that I liked. And I was always treated well by staff. @hayduke — love the banner idea. And @Lisa — thanks for the link. Something about the $3M loss with earnings of $1M explains a lot!
Both Jamy and Bill were hucksters, the whole concept was a sham from the get go. Every now and then they got a good employee but those would quit in short time after seeing the con from the inside. I say good riddance.
The Butcher and The Baker on Latona and 65th is really great…
http://www.butcherbakerseattle.com
I’ve been a 2x/week customer since their earliest days. They had a period of serious demise years ago, and I almost quit, but some new folks came on board to staff stores, and things recovered. I paid high prices for the pastured eggs, and grass fed products, but that was fine. I don’t know if they branched out too much, or it was corporate greed, or what. Some of their stores, with leases, were vacant for a long time before opening. I’m sorry for not having the stores open, but equally sorry of the store employees, who were always hard working, and called me by name. When you get rid of your great people, you’re doomed.
niversity Seafood carries great eggs, chicken, rabbit, and other meats. The Butcher and the Baker, as someone already said, near Latona and 65th has good meats. Rain Shadow Meats in the Melrose Market is also a good source.
@Ray, thanks for the link! It looks great! Do you know if the smoked/preserved meats have nitrites/nitrates? Do they make their own sausages, etc?
J’Amy Owens is a fraud. She has lied countless times and ripped off many people. I have been monitoring this business on several penny stock fora and it was clear many years ago that this woman is no retail expert and has been running the business into the ground. BTB never had real butchers at each store the meat was cut at one central location and then delivered to the retail stores. Most of the meat was mislabeled and overpriced. In other words, you did not get what you overpaid for. Suckers.
I am sorry for those of you who shopped there you got scammed. I have my own butcher who is old school Seattle and no I will not be sharing that with you so don’t even ask.
Lesser Seattle
I was sorry to hear BTB didn’t last, as I always wanted to try their grass-fed beef (something I can’t usually afford on a regular basis), and I heard they would have monthly butchering demonstration/classes.
But I shop at Better Meat in Greenwood, and I’m happy to recommend them.
I buy all my animals’ raw ground mix there, and recommend it to my pet sitting clients who are considering trying a raw food diet on their animals. Mike the owner supplements his dogs with the mix, and that’s how they started offering it as a product for other pet owners.
Ok, BtB is gone, Owens is a fraud, no really local butcher. But, we have the benefit of lots of recommendations. For my own purposes I collected them from this list, but, unlike some, I will share:
BB Meats in the Pike Place Market (where Bill works)
The Butcher and The Baker on Latona and 65th
University Seafood
Better Meat in Greenwood
Rain Shadow Meats in the Melrose Market
Pannonia Smokehouse (formerlly Carpthian Sausage) for good smoked and cured meats
Anyone have other recommendations?
Better Meat is old school Seattle. They are family owned/runned, 2 generations. They sell to restaurants, and many of the fishing boat companies, as well as regular people. They are real butchers, so there isn’t a pretty store space — it’s the real deal. Everyone there is super nice. And because I buy in quantity, my orders are always delivered!
Double DD Meats in Mountlake Terrace has always been great.
http://www.doubleddmeats.com
B t B probably would’ve done better if they had gotten rid of all their parking and put in a big Parklet 🙂
So go park there now.
Recommendation for meats (local, farm raised, you can even visit)
http://onthelambfarm.com/
“Cash-poor Bill the Butcher paid for CEO’s fancy Queen Anne home”. Source: http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_15980/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=tlGnkwQC