Rock Bottom Brewery on Fountain Square in Cincinnati closed due to bankruptcy and the pandemic.

 

It sounds like much of the Steak & Shake franchise is doing the same.

It sounds like much of the Steak & Shake franchise is doing the same.

 

The one in Evansville, IN (closest location to me) announced the were closing for good about a week ago.

White Squirrel Brewery in Bowling Green has announced they are closing for good.

It sounds like much of the Steak & Shake franchise is doing the same.

 

That has been a long time coming. Sad because they were a solid alternative to White Castle at 3 am on third shift.

White Squirrel Brewery in Bowling Green has announced they are closing for good.

 

I hate to hear that any company is shutting down for good, but I really hate to hear that breweries are.

I hate to hear that any company is shutting down for good, but I really hate to hear that breweries are.

 

I get what you're saying there and I don't disagree, but the craft brewery market is in a definite boom right now, and selling craft beer isn't as tough as it may seem. White Squirrel (I believe) is the only craft brewery in Bowling Green, which is the 3rd largest city in Kentucky. I would think they should have been doing some serious business if they knew what they were doing.

 

White Squirrel was no small-time operation. They had a canning/packaging operation and state-wide distribution. My assumption would be that a brewery with that kind of operation shouldn't be nearly so dependent on in-person business at the brewery that something like a quarantine would shut them down.

 

Also, I've tried several of their offerings myself...probably a dozen or so in the last 3 or 4 years. They weren't bad, by any means, but they weren't anything special by any stretch of the imagination. I also visited the brewery myself last summer. When we were there, my wife made the comment, "This seems a lot more like a restaurant than it does a brewery."

 

Long and short, I think White Squirrel was probably already struggling and this was the proverbial nail in the coffin.

I get what you're saying there and I don't disagree, but the craft brewery market is in a definite boom right now, and selling craft beer isn't as tough as it may seem. White Squirrel (I believe) is the only craft brewery in Bowling Green, which is the 3rd largest city in Kentucky. I would think they should have been doing some serious business if they knew what they were doing.

 

White Squirrel was no small-time operation. They had a canning/packaging operation and state-wide distribution. My assumption would be that a brewery with that kind of operation shouldn't be nearly so dependent on in-person business at the brewery that something like a quarantine would shut them down.

 

Also, I've tried several of their offerings myself...probably a dozen or so in the last 3 or 4 years. They weren't bad, by any means, but they weren't anything special by any stretch of the imagination. I also visited the brewery myself last summer. When we were there, my wife made the comment, "This seems a lot more like a restaurant than it does a brewery."

 

Long and short, I think White Squirrel was probably already struggling and this was the proverbial nail in the coffin.

 

I tend to agree. I have only had two of their beers but neither one was something that I would seek out to try again. I live in Owensboro and every now and then I would see cans of their product in the stores, but never anything consistently.

 

Not that Untappd necessarily is a good indicator of sales, but in 5 years they had less than 10,000 check ins. That probably isn't a sign of a successful brewery.

I get what you're saying there and I don't disagree, but the craft brewery market is in a definite boom right now, and selling craft beer isn't as tough as it may seem. White Squirrel (I believe) is the only craft brewery in Bowling Green, which is the 3rd largest city in Kentucky. I would think they should have been doing some serious business if they knew what they were doing.

 

White Squirrel was no small-time operation. They had a canning/packaging operation and state-wide distribution. My assumption would be that a brewery with that kind of operation shouldn't be nearly so dependent on in-person business at the brewery that something like a quarantine would shut them down.

 

Also, I've tried several of their offerings myself...probably a dozen or so in the last 3 or 4 years. They weren't bad, by any means, but they weren't anything special by any stretch of the imagination. I also visited the brewery myself last summer. When we were there, my wife made the comment, "This seems a lot more like a restaurant than it does a brewery."

 

Long and short, I think White Squirrel was probably already struggling and this was the proverbial nail in the coffin.

 

Gotcha. I don't know anything about this place. My comment was probably more in general about any craft brewery than about them specifically.

 

I think brewery with third party food is the way I'd go.

Don't know if there were any up there, but Sweet Tomatoes closing up shop for good. I am going to miss that place.

Rock Bottom Brewery on Fountain Square in Cincinnati closed due to bankruptcy and the pandemic.

 

In the article it said the they declared bankruptcy on a date several days before the pandemic.

In the article it said the they declared bankruptcy on a date several days before the pandemic.

 

I liked Rock Bottom, and ate lunch there a couple times a month. But it was in a huge space, and was never very busy compared to other places around it. I could get in and out there quicker than the Chipotle 30 yards away, which has lines out the door at lunch time. The rent in Fountain Square for that space has to be pricey, and being closed the last two months was probably something they just had no way to recover from.

Don’t know about closing, but it looks like JC Penney is declaring bankruptcy.

Don’t know about closing, but it looks like JC Penney is declaring bankruptcy.

 

COVID may have been the last straw, but Penney's has been in trouble for quite a while.