USA, OH: R. Shea Brewing Co. to close both of its locations

R. Shea Brewing Co. announced it will close both locations on Sunday, March 3, the Akron brewery posted on February 17 via Facebook.

The writing was on the wall late last year when owner Ron Shea launched a crowdfunding venture as a way to stave off loans with increasing interest rates.

Shea’s original location is in the Merriman Valley, and things were going well – enough to consider and plan an expansion to Canal Place downtown. But that location opened several months before the government shutdown as a result of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, and that timing dug a hole that Shea could not get out of.

A combination of financial factors led Shea to announce the closure.

“We can’t fight anymore,” he posted. “We are completely out of ammunition. There is nothing left.”

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