Uncle Brutha’s Closing
Two years ago, when Brennan Proctor opened Uncle Brutha’s Hot Sauce Emporium in a stand-alone store, he knew he was entrusting his profits to impulse buyers. People don’t make a special trips just to buy condiments, at least not the way the masses converge on the market for cookies and produce and fresh meat.
But in 2006, when Proctor signed the lease on his shop on 7th Street SE, the area around Eastern Market was booming and he felt confident the crowds would toss enough cash his way to make the rent. The fire last May changed that. With the precipitous drop in foot traffic, Proctor says, he hasn’t been able to maintain growth. When his lease ends at the end of this month, Uncle Brutha’s will close.
“The local community has continued to support us but it’s just not enough,” he says. Proctor says he will go back to hawking his signature No. 10 (the red one) and No. 9 (the green one) sauces at various market stands and is working on getting his sauce on tables at local restaurants. So far, he’s sold bottles to B Smith’s, Bread and Chocolate, and the Nationals Park. Uncle Brutha’s will also soon reappear on the shelves at area Whole Foods, which haven’t carried the hot stuff for a few months because Proctor was having a problem with his distributor.
12 Responses to “Uncle Brutha’s Closing”
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June 3rd, 2008 at 3:02 pm
damn, that’s too bad. and they just had a nice write-up last month in the hill rag…
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I made special trips to Uncle Brutha’s just to buy the green one. Love it.
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Uncle B’s is not the only business that is closed or losing money or looking for other venues. They are trying to find customers. Eastern Market is dying a slow death!!!
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:30 pm
So sad! I did make special trips there to pick out gifts of hot sauce for folks. My girlfriend has the green sauce with every omelette she eats.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:06 pm
That’s really too bad. But as long as they keep making those two delicious sauces, I’ll keep buying them wherever I can find em.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:25 am
So Sad! I made special trips just for the green sauce too! Its an addiction! and I’ve gotten all my friends hooked on it too.
Still- glad to hear it will be back on the shelves at whole foods.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:28 am
That’s terrible. Such a great shop, friendly and informative, what a rarity. I take people there when they visit from out of town and now they are hooked! They will be truly missed.
June 4th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Very sad–as a resident of Eastern Market, I celebrated the arrival of Proctor’s store and continued to make special trips there when I moved away from the Hill. There’s no other place in district with a selection as good or a staff as friendly. Glad to hear they’ll still be selling their sauces, though. There’s nothing like ‘em.
June 5th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Will miss the store. Stopped in every time I visited from Michigan.
June 13th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
This is horrible news! I’m glad we’ll still be able to get the hot sauce, but the shop was always so welcoming and helpful.
The Eastern Market area is definitely suffering, and the continued closure of 7th Street on weekends seems to be a big part of that. One of the highest-profile participants on the weekend Farmers’ Line, Toigo, left in the fall and refused to return because of the significant drop-off in shoppers from outside the local area that they attributed to the closure’s impact on parking in the area.
After a particularly disappointing visit to the Farmers’ Line last weekend, I wrote a brief post at Capital Spice asking “Why walk the Line?”
Sadly, I think we’re going to hear more bad news like this as Eastern Market loses traffic to the FreshFarm Markets and other markets throughout the city. Unless they take drastic steps to bring back the crowds, the South Hall will reopen to the sound of crickets.
June 16th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
there is hope…you can smother your hotdogs with the sauce on H street at the pug.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Awww!!!! I loved Fire Sauce Number 9–the green stuff–and Uncle Brutha was adorable–I wanted to pinch his cheeks in the store…This pisses me off.