"We Have Every Intention of Occupying Main Street and Moving Into Edmonds"

In early September, a spokesman for Bill the Butcher said he for its Edmonds location in mid-October.

Oops.

The spokesman, marketing director Alan Brown, hinted that Edmonds might be open before Thanksgiving. To be fair, he mentioned the word “hopefully.”

That’s not going to happen either.

Edmonds consumers who were once looking forward to the store's opening—and saw and operating—are now grumbling. And trying to get answers.

Yet another Bill the Butcher Facebook query into the Edmonds store drew the following reply earlier this month:

“We know it's been a long wait for our Edmonds opening. We have been waiting for the right additional capital to move in before Thanksgiving, but it might be on other side of that rapidly approaching holiday. There will definitely be a countdown and daily picture-a-day progress posted here as we get close to an Edmonds opening.”

Bill the Butcher purchased the site on Fourth and Main in September 2010. There have been and since then.

There's no doubt that financial problems are the reason for the delays. Bill the Butcher has talked about expanding to other states and becoming the Starbucks of meat shops, but it appears that investors could be wary of the company’s ambition.

In fact, a . Still, Brown refutes the notion that investors are backing off. “Investors are not wary, but money doesn't move quickly in this economy,” he said. “We have offers on the table under negotiation and review.”

Although the company hired an independent researcher who declared that “Bill the Butcher is one of the most compelling investment opportunities we have seen in our 24 years of institutional investment research,” the company’s third-quarter report showed it had just $40,000 in cash. Its accumulated deficit was $3.7 million.  

Bill the Butcher’s stock was trading at 25 cents on Tuesday after reaching a low of 19 cents.

“We have every intention of opening Edmonds when capital is secured,” said Brown. “It is true that in this economy it has been more of a challenge raising capital than originally projected. However, we have some promising prospects on the table and the future looks bright. We have every intention of occupying Main Street and moving into Edmonds, although I do not have a projection for when we will open the doors at this time.

"Constantly moving the date back has not been something we have taken lightly, and hopefully the citizens of Edmonds can understand and forgive us for the delays. That shop is our top priority once capital is secured, and we look forward to opening day.  We promise it will be worth the wait, even though it has been a very long wait.”