Oro Brewing reopens in downtown Mesa
Arizona’s Oro Brewing, which revealed at the start of the year that it was being forced to close, has reversed its course and is set to reopen its doors in downtown Mesa.
The award-winning brewery based near the northwest corner of Main Street and Robson in Mesa, disclosed on social media this week that after previously planning to sell the business, its situation has now changed and the brewery could be saved.
Challenges
The challenges for the business had followed Oro Brewing owner Dave Valencia having partnered with Nicky’s Barbecue pop-up operator Chris Figueroa to launch Golden Oak Barbecue & Taproom in Phoenix. However, the new venture, which had opened last October, had stretched the business financially and had prompted Valencia to close Oro by January.
Golden Oak had also abruptly closed in February following what was reported locally as a dispute with the surrounding landlords of Artisan Lofts on their apartments after residents had purportedly complained about smoke from the barbecue smoker.
Plans had also been put in place for Tacos Chiwas owners Armando Hernandez and Nadia Holguin to take over the Oro Brewing venue and launch Mesa Brewing Company in its place, but, according to reports, those plans are potentially on hold.
In a social media announcement, Valencia noted how the attempt to sell the business had been thwarted by issues and setbacks and revealed:
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“The plan was indeed to close and sell the brewery, but after hitting bump after bump, we’ve decided that current circumstances won’t allow for an easy ‘shut the door and hand over the keys.’ Instead, we have decided to stay open and continue serving the community to the absolute best of our ability,” said Valencia.
‘A pillar of the community’
He went on to point out that “Oro has always strived to be a pillar of the community, and during what should have been our final days, we felt that sentiment in full. We cannot begin to express how much everyone’s support means to us. The outpouring of well-wishes and love was not taken for granted. From the bottom of the hearts of everyone here at Oro: thank you so much. You guys are truly amazing.”
Valencia admitted that “a common thing we heard was how you felt about the idea of Main Street without Oro” and so said that now the plan was to be “picking up what you’re throwing down, which is a big part of why staying open feels like the right decision to make”.
New direction
According to Valencia. Oro will be “finding our footing in a new direction, and we do have a plan to keep things going. We’ve loaded up on bodega snacks and tobacco products and have already moved back to regular hours. We’d like to get through our remaining stock while moving forward as a taproom with a focus on local Arizona beer. We still have a substantial amount of fresh beer here, so come get it while you can.”
He added: “We’ll be addressing new beers, products, and other happenings through social media, so stay tuned. Thank you all for your continued understanding and support We are not closing! Despite the plan to sell, we’re staying open while making adjustments.”
For now, Oro Brewing will operate as a taproom, since it still has a substantial amount of fresh beer on hand. One issue is that the business’s longtime brewer Jesse Kortepeter has moved on, however there is still a future for the beer business.
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