Citizens, friends, and supporters:
After nearly 9 years of operations, the dream of a new nation of beer – for the people, by the people – has come to an end. Our landlord has forced us out, and given the high costs of relocating and the distressed nature of the brewery and restaurant industries, we’ve decided that it was best to shut down and close. There’s always a chance we could resurface, but we have no plans to do so at this time – especially in the current environment for our type of business – so that prospect is highly unlikely.
For those interested in more detail about how we’ve arrived at this point, keep reading…
As some of you may know, our shopping center was sold in August 2023 to a new owner. While our prior long-time landlord wasn’t perfect, we had a solid relationship with them that enabled us to work together, with them even very supportive of things like our annual beer fest and Oktoberfest. We had hopes that we’d have a strong and productive relationship with the new center owner, but this new landlord quickly proved to be far more difficult to work with, and far less welcoming of our business – and declined to support us, even on activities that generated revenue for them and other tenants (like our annual beer fest – which they haven’t allowed us to do since they became the center’s owner). They made it clear almost from the moment they purchased our shopping center that they wanted us gone. It took a bit of time, but they have now triggered a provision in our lease that allows them to terminate our lease – and earlier this month, they did just that.
We’ve survived a lot over the years and endured longer than any other brewery in our area (with one exception), overcoming many challenges along the way while keeping our business generally stable since opening in 2016 – doing well enough to stay operating and in-business. Yet, we haven’t performed at a high enough level as to be able justify paying double the rent our landlord is demanding to let us stay, or to afford the million-dollars-plus for a relocation. Things have been good enough to keep the engine running, but not to move, take apart that engine and put it back together again.
And, it’s a horrible environment for both restaurants and breweries these days. Many of our brewery friends in the region have already closed, and many restaurants that have been mainstays in our market are no longer open. Two of five restaurants in DC are closing weekly. Nationally, more breweries are closing than opening. Every brewery that originated in Woodbridge/Eastern Prince William County is no longer around – almost all of them closing within a couple years of them opening. One industry expert told us that the restaurant and brewery businesses are highly distressed at the moment. This isn’t the opportunity-rich environment breweries had experienced in 2016 when we opened, and yet nevertheless, we made it this far.
It's also been challenging to find good employees. In fact, a recent group of hires (now fired) did significant damage to our operations of which we’re still recovering from – service, food, vibe – none of it was what we aim for or expect, resulting in a lot of disappointed citizens (customers). But, our award-winning beer has always been consistently great. That’s why we’ve won so many awards and accolades for our beer, and early on in our operations, even being asked by the then-incoming President of the United States to brew the official beer for his inauguration.
Words cannot express how proud we are of the Brew Republic legacy and the opportunity to be a member of such a wonderful community, if even for a short while. Our business has been the home of celebrated birthdays, weddings, retirements, Woodbridge Beer Festivals, and many holiday gatherings. Couples have met at our bar and gotten married. Our flag has flown at countless locations around the world, and our beer has been sipped in almost as many places. No matter what you believe, where you’re from, the color of your skin, or who you love – we’ve always prided ourselves as a place where everyone checks their differences at the door and can enjoy a beer, together. Good beer has a way of bringing people together – and that’s exactly what we’ve aimed to do – particularly in the increasingly divisive world we live in.
You, our citizens, along with our spectacular Brew Republic team alumni, have enabled us to build tremendous notoriety over nine years in business. We thank you for allowing our new nation of beer to be a part of your lives, and for you being a part of ours.
Thank you for your years of support.
To the Republic!
* We are in the process of liquidating almost everything. If there’s something you have your eye on, contact closing@brewrepublic.beer – we’d love to make a deal.
