Michigan brewpub closes down after just seven months
UPDATE: Actually sounds like the downsizing occurred one month ago and now it is just closing down for good. Wow.
In July, Wilcox opened The Local Pub and Brewery at the former location of Zigs Kettle & Brew, which closed in 2003.
"I’d like to thank my customers and employees," Wilcox said. "It was a good run. I wish we could have been supported more financially."
Seven months is a good run? Blaming the community for not supporting you enough? Hmm…
via MLive.com.
Yeah, actually, 7 months for a “restaurant” is a good run.
As for “I wish we could have been supported more” – it is what it is. That’s usually why restaurants close – lack of support. Of course, that lack of support might be because they have a lousy product…
Hey Derek,
Thanks. This report (it’s just one, I’m not going to do tons of research on it) says that 75% of restaurants survive past the first year: http://www.econ.ucsb.edu/~tedb/Courses/Ec1F07/restaurantsfail.pdf.
Aside from that I believe in the free market when it comes to small businesses. I don’t think a small business should require some kind of charitable support to survive. Sure, some is nice but it should be able to survive on its own because the local community NEEDS it. I believe in building local businesses to relieve the local community’s pain points. If the business effectively solves the pain point, it will survive.
That said, I wish Local Pub and Brewery the best of luck on the production side.
I keep reading and re-reading the article, and it sounds like they are closing for good. An older article linked within this one details the decision to close the restaurant portion of the operation. This article, unless I’m misreading, makes it sound as though they are closing forever. Jackson is one of those places where people are not going to spend money on something that isn’t worth it. Many of the comments hint at lousy food and bad service, as well as mediocre beer. Having seen first hand what happened with Mad Anthony’s brewpub in Elkhart, IN, it sounds like similar problems doomed them both.
Good call, Chris. I actually didn’t click on that link in the original article. They probably could have written that paragraph differently and made it more clear. Changing the headline. Thanks!
Pingback: Pennsylvania microbrewery is the third to close in just the past week | Beernews.org
WOW another brewery at that location? When I lived in Ann Arbor from 1999-2006 there was Zigs then before that Jackson Brewing. Perhaps it is the location which seems odd since it is right off the interstate.