A popular NC brewery permanently closed its Charlotte location after six years.
One of Charlotte’s breweries has officially closed its doors.
Catawba Brewing Co. has permanently closed its Charlotte location in the Belmont neighborhood.
“Thank you for the years of support. You are the best part of us. Thank you for entrusting us with your first dates, wedding receptions, first birthdays, friend get-togethers, and more,” a sign placed on the brewery on Monday says. “We love you all and will miss you dearly.”
The notice was signed “Your Charlotte Catawba Staff.”
Yet, general manager MaryAnn Anstine told CharlotteFive that employees were notified of the closure Monday morning without notice and without reason.
“The staff at Catawba has dedicated their heart and soul into making the Charlotte taproom the best it can be with limited to no resources,” Karisa Maxwell, a part-time employee for the brewery, told CharlotteFive. “We all wanted Catawba to be better and it’s not fair to the full time staff who stuck it out during moments of extreme frustration because they loved the community we built and the beer and thought there would be bigger and better opportunities under new ownership.”
Maxwell explained that Catawba’s team poured a lot of support into the taproom, from painting the walls themselves to attending events off the clock.
“We all knew the location wasn’t ideal and advocated for changes that would allow Catawba to compete with the hip new breweries popping up, but instead it felt like ownership just gave up on us and the brand,” Maxwell said.
The Charlotte brewery, which opened in 2017, was one of four of the company’s locations across the Carolinas with craft beer, food trucks, bingo, trivia and other weekly events. “We’ll bring a little of what you know from us in the mountains, which tends to focus on the outdoors, to Charlotte,” co-founder Billy Pyatt told CharlotteFive ahead of its opening. “Only here, we’ll tie in our new outdoors with views of the city from our taproom and patio.”
According to Charlotte Business Journal, the new management team who acquired the brewery two years ago, Made By The Water, is planning to open a new location in South End. Catawba Brewing confirmed this to CharlotteFive in a statement emailed on Aug. 16.
However, Catawba Brewing’s Instagram account for its Charlotte location has been disabled.
In the same statement, Catawba Brewing also announced that the Wilmington location was closed. “The decision to close the Wilmington location was not made lightly, but it allows for greater investment in the brand and with our wholesale partners in North Carolina,” stated Alexi Sekmakas, CEO of Catawba.
Catawba Brewing Co.
Location: 933 Louise Ave #105, Charlotte, NC 28204
Neighborhood: Belmont Charlotte
This story was originally published August 14, 2023 at 1:20 PM.
.jpg)