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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Chow Bill the Butcher: Now With Reportedly Very Little Cash and Probably No Bill

Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 3:39 PM

You remember Bill the Butcher, the rapidly growing Pacific Northwest chain of upscale butcher shops. On the Bill the Butcher website, Bill—William Von Schneidau, the founder along with marketing consultant J'Amy Owens—originally said, "If you've met me in the store you know I'm passionate about organic grass fed beef... but don't just take my word for it." However, the business initially would not divulge its purportedly local/organic meat suppliers, nor label its meats by source; since this article in The Stranger appeared, Bill the Butcher has become more transparent in its labeling and suppliers.

Now Eater Seattle reports that the Bill the Butcher chain "disclosed in its latest SEC filing that it has a meager $40,000 cash remaining." Further:

Rami Grunbaum of the Seattle Times analyzed the filing and discovered that a major cause of the cash shortage was that in June 2011, Bill the Butcher was forced to reverse a private placement (aka cancel a stock sale) that would have netted the unprofitable startup $4.5 million. Owens remains stalwart, asserting that the company has "several other offers the same size or larger, and we're entertaining those now."

Meanwhile, an attorney for William Von Schneidau has confirmed that Von Schneidau is undertaking legal action against Bill the Butcher, Inc.... so Bill the Butcher's Bill is presumably no longer with the company (and he's no longer quoted on the website).

Bonus after the jump: J'Amy Owens on J'Amy Owens (it is amazing).

A plum quote from J'Amy Owens' website:

My name is J’Amy Owens and one of the great joys of my life is breaking all the rules, of freely mixing retail and politics, and pouring my beliefs into my work. Eventually, this method has allowed me to push the boundaries of conventional retailing with an original cultural statement, bold new styles and my own brand of humanism that I practice through consumerism.

It's totally worth reading this whole page.

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Comments (23) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

Didn't we grow out of terrible Flash intro screens for web sites in about 2002?

Posted by shabadoo on July 26, 2011 at 3:44 PM

She's hired. I'm going to start a small business just to get the CHANCE to hire her. For now, do you happen to know what she charges to do MySpace layouts?

Posted by MasMadness on July 26, 2011 at 3:59 PM

"That's what some call a no-shit statistic"

Oddly, Owen's as a surname doesn't hint at the j'heritage J'Amy speaks to.

Posted by whomever whilst have me on July 26, 2011 at 4:02 PM

"my own brand of humanism that I practice through consumerism."

Sounds like Neoliberalism. Not really something I'd support a company for, or anything to brag about.

Posted by undead ayn rand on July 26, 2011 at 4:13 PM

hhh

Posted by polysciblogger on July 26, 2011 at 4:18 PM

Is it pronounced Jamie? Also, she looks like she's spent a little too much time in the sun in her lifetime.

Posted by care bear on July 26, 2011 at 4:20 PM

Bill may be gone but we know the bull stayed, and what kind of grass (inhale!) feeds it.

Posted by je n'aime l'name J'Amy mon ami on July 26, 2011 at 4:25 PM

"Like my dad always liked to say - the only thing in the middle of the road are white stripes and the dead armadillos. I now know he was talking about me."

Sounds like her father didn't think much of her, either.

Posted by Meat Weapon on July 26, 2011 at 4:28 PM

Great! Can't wait until these greenwashed butcher shops like Rain Shadow are all gone. What a blight. At least Burning Beast seems honest in not giving a shit about animals, the environment, or people's health.

Posted by raku on July 26, 2011 at 4:33 PM

Please don't crap on Bill the Butcher. He's in the process of opening a new store in Wallingford, where the 7-11 on Stone used to be, which I drive by twice a day and plan on stopping in twice a week. Maybe that's why he's short of dough. But that store HAS TO OPEN. I NEED IT.

Posted by Fnarf

on July 26, 2011 at 4:41 PM

#10 Why not order from Blue Valley Meats?

Posted by it's how Thundering Hooves ex-customers buy their meat on July 26, 2011 at 4:49 PM

I'd opt for Zaw Pizza instead. They had a van parked there before the Bill the Butcher signs went up, and my housemate says they were parked there again yesterday.

Posted by StuckInUtah on July 26, 2011 at 4:49 PM

@9, for such an animal lover, you sure do beat that dead horse.

Posted by Luckier on July 26, 2011 at 4:55 PM

At 40¢ a share, you can afford to save Bill the Butcher, which J'Amy claims will be to meat what Starbucks is to coffee.

Oops, make that 39¢ a share.

Oops, make that 38¢ a share.

Oops, make that 37.5¢ a share.

Posted by Meat Weapon on July 26, 2011 at 5:00 PM

I'm probably alone on this, but every time I hear people describe themselves as a "straight talker," I always hear Mrs. Honeychurch say, "You think you're so holy and truthful, but really it's only abominable conceit!"

Posted by Re. on July 26, 2011 at 5:13 PM

@11, I want to shop for my meat in a RETAIL STORE, the kind that is disappearing rapidly from our streets. I don't need the whole world to be online. Support your local shops.

Posted by Fnarf

on July 26, 2011 at 5:34 PM

@16 I know you're maybe too far north, but seriously: Bob's Quality Meats in Columbia City. It's worth the special mid-day trip.

Posted by NaFun

on July 26, 2011 at 6:29 PM

@9: "Can't wait until these greenwashed butcher shops like Rain Shadow are all gone."

It would be great if you understood what "greenwashed" means instead of making up your own definition and using it for something that has nothing to do with the environment.

Posted by undead ayn rand on July 26, 2011 at 6:45 PM

19 Comment Pulled (Trolling) Comment Policy

At least the Swinery appears to be surviving, even after the departure of one founder and demise of another.

It's so excellent to have a whole-animal butcher down the street.

Posted by mēt on July 26, 2011 at 7:50 PM

@4, kinda like slavery is freedom! War is peace!!

Posted by Last of the Time Lords on July 26, 2011 at 8:06 PM

@17, Bob's Quality Meats is a miracle of goodness but it's a nightmare of a trip. I'm a two-square-miles kind of guy.

Posted by Fnarf

on July 26, 2011 at 8:53 PM

@9

One day we'll discover that moral superiority and self-righteousness cause cancer. Of course, I'll probably be gone by then from a petrified liver... or shattered pelvis.

Posted by Central Scrutinizer on July 26, 2011 at 11:52 PM