JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A popular craft beer spot in Jacksonville's Five Points area of Riverside announced Monday it will soon be closing its doors.
Posted to its social media page Monday, the owners of Alewife Bottleshop and Tasting Room said the "difficult" decision was made to not renew their lease when the term ends in the fall.
The shop opened in 2014 and offers a wide variety of craft beer for customers to enjoy in a take-home fashion or seated at one of their tables or stools.
"This has been a decision we have been agonizing over for the past few months and it truly hurts us to make it," the owners said in a Facebook post.
The shop owners said they were never really able to recover from the impacts the coronavirus pandemic had on the business and the craft beer business as a whole. While Alewife made it through the pandemic, the business closures during it left a mark they haven't fully recovered from.
"While we were able to navigate through it, the closures left us in a bit of a hole," the post reads. "And while we worked really hard to get out of it, the lingering post-pandemic shifts in consumer behavior have made getting out of that hole even more difficult."
The post says Alewife will continue operations through October. The owners hope a beer-centric bar takes their place.
Sun-Ray Cinema also closed its doors in July this year after new owners of its building chose not to renew its lease. The owner of Alewife noted the changes in Five Points in their post.
"There is also no doubt that 5 Points is a neighborhood in the midst of a transition, and that’s okay, neighborhoods evolve and change," the post reads. "We love 5 Points – this decision does not change that. But at the end of the day, we know we don’t have the energy or resources it would take to make this space successful enough to support what the current market rate demands."