The Next Two Weeks Are All That Matter Right Now
We've worked more than five years to build up this business, to create something from nothing. None of that work is as important as what happens in the next two weeks of our brewery lives.
When we opened the doors on September 6, 2014 we knew we'd be faced with challenges and speedbumps. While we have seen our fair share of ups and downs along the way, nothing can really prepare you for the surreal feeling we all experienced when PA Governor Wolf and County Executive Dahlkemper issued all non-essential businesses to shut down all dine-in operations.
90% of our brewery's revenue comes from people ordering a pint and hanging out in our taproom. This scenario isn't unique to us, in fact the moment the official notice was given, our cell phones lit up from our brewer friends looking to hatch a plan for to-go sales in a coordinated fashion. We're all feeling the pinch no matter what space within the service industry we occupy.
Here's how we're adapting at our shop:
- Hours of operation are adjusted to Friday, 3:00pm - 7:00pm and Saturday, 12:00pm - 6:00pm for to-go items only
- Online sales of merch and gift cards are fully available at https://www.eriealeworks.com/store
- We're postponing the start of the new Mug Club season, originally slated to start March 21st. We'll let you know when it's good to start
- Obviously we won't be hosting food trucks or pop-ups until this thing blows over, which is a freakin' bummer because they make some of the best food we've ever had
If you've been keeping up with us on any social media platforms you'll know our recent $450k expansion project isn't quite finished, so we don't have a large inventory of our own beer. Our industry friends have been very cool in selling us product to keep our taproom moving along, so a large portion of our to-go offering is guests. But to be clear, we don't have a lot of our own beer because of our expansion project's unwillingness in producing our own products. We're a pretty friendly bar though :)
Be safe out there - we're looking forward for this whole thing being done so we can get back to business as usual.
- Steve & Jeff
