USA, MI: Arcadia Brewing Co. to close brewery in downtown Battle Creek, restart sometime in 2018

Arcadia Brewing Co. plans to close its 21-year-old brewery in downtown Battle Creek on Sept. 2, find a new space, and restart sometime in 2018, MLive.com reported on August 18.

"We need to pause, hit 'reset' and find a more suitable space that really lifts the standards that everyone had for us in Battle Creek from the very beginning, back in 1996," said Tim Suprise, founder and chief executive officer of the craft beer and tavern business.

He said there are structural issues with the brewery's 6,000-square-foot longtime location at 103 W. Michigan Ave. in downtown Battle Creek and that has created challenges for the business.

Mentioning its roof and drain system, he said, "The building itself has some structural issues and it wasn't continuing to be tenable for us. We have to get a more appropriate space."

Suprise announced the closing on Friday, Aug. 18, to the brewery's 30 workers, saying he hopes to re-engage many of them when the new location opens. He said he also hopes many of them are able to find positions at his Arcadia Ales location in downtown Kalamazoo.

"It is with bittersweet excitement that we will be closing our longstanding brewery in Battle Creek on Sept. 2," he said in a written statement. "We are very excited to announce plans for our new location in downtown Battle Creek soon which will ultimately allow us to continue to be a cultural part of the fabric of this community for the next 21 years, and bring a product, style of service and amenity commensurate with today's craft beer enthusiast."

Suprise said he wants to continue to be part of the growth of downtown Battle Creek.

"The city of Battle Creek has been great," he said.

The city's economic development team has been actively working with him to find a new location, he said. And he hopes it is very near the brewery's present location.

"We need to make this decision about a new location right away -- within the next 30 to 60 days," Suprise said, "so that we can minimize the time we're not open."

He said he hopes to be able to reopen in early to mid-2018 if he is able to quickly find a suitable new location.

He did not say whether sales are down for the operation in Battle Creek, and he would not say how much business the company does in Battle Creek versus its Kalamazoo location.

In the meantime, he said Arcadia will try to stay connected with the Battle Creek community with greater use of its mobile food trucks, the Twisted Tail, and the Arcadia Brat Mobile.

The new brewery will need 6,000 to 6,500 square feet of space, with 1,500 to 1,700 square feet for its brewery operation and the balance for patrons, Surprise said.

In May of 2014, the brewery opened its 30,000-square-foot Arcadia Ales location at 701 E. Michigan Ave. in downtown Kalamazoo. That has become headquarters for the brewery business.

The property Surprise developed in Battle Creek - as well as an Arcadia Ales & Smokehouse location that is set to open next month in Lansing - are expected to have some of the design elements of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek locations.

The Lansing location will have the open, rustic atmosphere and the barbecue cuisine and casual-dining feel of the Kalamazoo location, along with the wood-fired pizza, wood-fired cuisine and sit-down dining atmosphere of the Battle Creek location, Suprise said.

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