Sacramento butcher shop closes after 10 years of quality meats. ‘It’s a sad day’

A Sacramento butcher shop has closed its doors after 10 years of ribeye steaks and chuck roasts.

Eric Veldman Miller, owner of V. Miller Meats, announced Wednesday via social media that he was shutting down his store at 4801 Folsom Blvd. in East Sacramento.

In an Instagram post, Miller said he decided to close the meat market for “a multitude of reasons.”

“We did what we set out to do, which was (to) build a local community-driven butcher shop,” Miller said Wednesday in a Instagram Reel. “Bring people together with their food source and making it a kind of cool environment to do that. So thank you.”

What is V. Miller Meats?

A graduate of Napa Valley Cooking School in St. Helena, Miller worked as an instructor at the local Cordon Bleu cooking school and completed an apprenticeship at Sutter Meats in Massachusetts before opening his own butcher shop, according to the V. Miller Meats website.

V. Miller Meats opened its doors in East Sacramento in fall 2015, buoyed by the emergence of a new generation of Sacramento chefs and a renewed interest in serious home cooking, The Sacramento Bee previously reported.

“The farm-to-fork movement started to gain quite a bit of traction,” Miller told The Bee in 2016. “It used to be hard for me to go to restaurants and be really excited ... Now the chefs are not only building these really great dishes, they (also) have an audience now.”

Miller said he wanted to bring a nostalgic, whole-animal butcher shop experience to the Sacramento area to cater to those foodies.

What did East Sacramento butcher shop sell?

According to its website, V. Miller Meats specialized in quality, “responsibly raised meat” — selling everything from grass-feed beef and pasture-raised lamb to free-range chicken and housemade sausages.

During the Thanksgiving season, the store sold turkeys raised at California farms, according to Bee archives.

Over a decade in business, V. Miller Meats became a staple in the community, Miller said.

“I watched so many kids, mine included, just grow up in the shop,” Miller told The Bee on Thursday. “People (have told me) ‘This is the only place my kids ever eat meat from’ and the kids are 9 years old.”

Why is Folsom Boulevard business closing?

Miller said there are a variety of reasons why he is closing V. Miller Meats.

He highlighted California’s recent minimum wage increase and the difficulties of competing with major meat corporations that have the ability to offer lower prices.

California raised the minimum wage to $16.50 per hour, making it more challenging for Miller to keep his employees and still pay operating expenses.

Although the holidays normally mean a surge in sales for V. Miller Meats, he said the store saw a decline in sales this season.

It was a hit that particularly hurt the butcher shop, which experienced a 40% decline in sales during the summer due to the drastic heat.

“It was like a perfect storm of things that we really couldn’t carry anymore,” Miller said.

Miller said a total of five employees lost their jobs as a result of the closure.

Community members react as deli shut its doors

After Miller announced the closure of V. Miller Meats, hundreds of comments flooded the business’ Facebook and Instagram feeds, with fans sharing their love and support.

“I learned so much from you, and your broth kept my aunt alive while she had cancer,” Jacqui Seppi told Miller in a Facebook comment. “(We) will miss you very much.”

Instagram user Jasonrriley appreciated that Miller “indulged” his many requests for South American cuts of meat.

“Your shop kept my parrilla firing with the grass-fed beef of my childhood,” the Instagram user wrote. “I’m forever grateful. I’ll remember your shop (as) a slice of a utopia I wanted to live in - fresh, local ingredients, prepared with skill and a great amount of banter on preparation and family life ...”

Facebook user Matt Davis also expressed his sorrow over V. Miller Meats’ closure.

“This one-of-a-kind shop will be missed,” Davis said. “...It’s a sad day, but knowing the talented folks behind the scenes and at the counter, I’m sure there are plenty of ideas in the works for the near future.”

Miller told The Sacramento Bee on Thursday that his store has been filled with community members purchasing meats, shirts and other products.

When was the meat market’s last day?

Although Miller originally planned to keep V. Miller Meats open until Saturday, March 8, the store officially closed its doors on Thursday due to a rush in customers.

On Thursday afternoon, Miller posted an Instagram Reel announcing the closure and thanking community members for their overwhelming support.

“It is a heavy heart that I need to pull the plug now,” Miller said in the video.

Miller told The Bee that he’s proud of the work he did over the past decade and expressed hope that his shop left behind a positive legacy.

“We did what we set out to do. We had a really good run at it and we had a lot of fun,” Miller said. “The customers are fantastic, the people I worked with are fantastic. And just being a part of this neighborhood and the bigger community was always really important for me.”