Update: Bill the Butcher Expects Order Today, Says Closure was a Speed Bump

Editor's Note: As of Friday afternoon, Bill the Butcher confirmed that corned beef is available for purchase in the Edmonds store.

Update: J'amy Owens contacted Patch last evening, saying last week's closure of the Edmonds Bill the Butcher shop was a 'speed bump' due to refinancing of the publicly held company, and things are on track--including an expected delivery of beef brisket on Thursday.

"We have had amazing results in Edmonds, the volume has exceed our our expectations," Owens said. "They bought every single thing we had in the shop in the first six weeks."

Though Owens could not detail the refinancing due to federal filing rules, she said the company is preparing to open a six location soon in Wallingford.

The Edmonds store also is waiting for permission to transfer smoked meats from its commissary to the Edmonds shop, which Owens said is just a matter of paperwork going through. Eventually, the Edmonds store will have its own smoker, she said.

Update, March 13, 4 p.m.: Several Bill the Butcher locations, including Woodinville and Redmond, have also reported that they will not have meat orders that include beef brisket until at least Friday. The company has not returned calls for comment.

Update, March 13, 1 p.m.: A call to Bill the Butcher in Edmonds confirmed that the store does not have beef brisket in stock today. A staff member said an order is expected Friday, March 15, but the manager declined to speak by phone.

Bill the Butcher's Social Media representative, Terri Ann Johnston, told Patch via Twitter that company reps have been in meetings all morning. We still have not received a phone call from the company regarding this story.

Original story--

It may be déjà vu all over again for Edmonds residents still mourning as the recently opened Bill the Butcher in downtown appears to be facing financial troubles.

Patch stopped by the store yesterday at noon to get recipe tips for corned beef, but instead found that the store had not received its order yet, following a week-long closure after it ran out of meat last week.

Store manager Rachael Gordon said the company's five locations didn't put in orders last week as it worked to complete a refinancing package. She indicated that an order--including beef brisket--was expected at 3 p.m., but after 4 p.m. the store still hadn't received its order. The company had one lone brisket brining in its walk-in fridge for a special order.

The store also lacked smoked meats, turning away a customer who came in looking for lunch meat. Gordon said the company has not yet received a permit to ship smoked meats from its King County locations to Snohomish County.

Repeated phone calls and messages to company representatives for information on when the brisket would arrive, including to owner J'amy Owens, have not yet been returned,  and as of Wednesday morning the phone number for company spokesman, Alan Brown, was not accepting phone calls.

Bill the Butcher's opening in Edmonds and though it remained optimistic about an aggressive expansion plan and just last week indicated on its Facebook Page that a Wallingford location would likely open at the end of this month. Today, it appears the troubled waters have not yet calmed for the company.

This is a developing story; Patch will update it as more details become available.