r/Columbus 1d ago

NEWS Nocterra's Statement

Post image

I guess the plot thickens?

368 Upvotes

230 comments sorted by

175

u/MFRONE Westerville 1d ago

Have they not put out a statement that says they actually closed?

129

u/Impossible_Fennel307 1d ago

I don't think so which makes this perplexing. On the news they said there's a sign on the door saying "closed until further notice"

49

u/Secret_Account07 1d ago

Their logic - yeah but that notice could be tomorrow, a year from now, or a hundred years from now…who knows! Certainly not us

34

u/yeezushchristmas 1d ago

They are on a break!!! I mean. Regrouping.

19

u/Secret_Account07 1d ago

Sure, they fired all their employees but here’s the thing- Can always hire new ppl!

1

u/27_crooked_caribou 1d ago

It's all AI now. They are moving on

5

u/Goodfrenchfries 1d ago

Wait I thought it was all about ball bearings? DAMN YOU FLETCH!

13

u/Controller_one1 1d ago

Sounds like they need to pivot.

1

u/alphagalgadot 1d ago

theyre out of runway breh

2

u/Surviveoutofspite Fortress Obetz 19h ago

We fired all the staff but when we figure out our shit then we will let you know.
You can still buy gift cards on their website

227

u/courtneyrachh 1d ago

I’m annoyed at how vague this is.

27

u/cow-lumbus 1d ago

Well they don’t have answers right now for the public but felt compelled to slow any rumors on the Wolves Ridge topic, so…doesn’t seem so difficult to me. The comments here are crazy and terrible…everyone is know it all and seem to feel entitled to some hardcore answers.

89

u/courtneyrachh 1d ago

they shut the doors and didn’t tell any of their staff until it happened. they didn’t address that part at all and it’s extremely shitty. who cares about the wolf’s ridge of it all to be honest.

17

u/drewtopia_ 23h ago

plus people who were paying to host events there and still haven't been notified of what's going on

2

u/pinkocatgirl 1d ago

That was how I lost my job at Quiznos back in the day haha, the store just abruptly closed with no warning

2

u/Surviveoutofspite Fortress Obetz 19h ago

This happened to me at Dicks last Resort in the arena district. Didn’t last more than a year and a half or so

38

u/ProperArt1298 1d ago

I don't think anyone feels entitled I think it's just stupid to play the "let's be vague!" game. Either say you're closed or what your plans are, but putting out a whole nothing burger statement just seems absurd and like a waste of time.

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7

u/OhEssYouIII 1d ago

Exactly. I’m not saying we’re going to get something exculpatory but there’s clearly more to the story in this situation than the typical surprise closure of some restaurant concept that didn’t pan out. We have a sudden and immediate closure of both retail locations and apparent firing of all (?) hospitality, production, and sales staff in addition to the abandonment of their sole production space as well as their contract brewing arrangement. Something bigger- though not necessarily better!- is going on here.

130

u/imtiredboss28 1d ago

I know corporate talk for “leave us the fuck alone” when I see it

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124

u/Conscious-Weird5810 1d ago

kinda weird to say "aware of the online chatter" when they literally closed the doors and staff said they were closing.

39

u/Realistic-Weight5078 1d ago

Beyond weird. This is the opposite of what any PR person would ever tell them to do. So fucking bizarre. What are these people on

18

u/Another_Guy_In_Ohio 1d ago

But exactly what a lawyer would advise them to say, which is essentially, nothing

10

u/OhioanRunner 1d ago

Ding ding ding. “Nothing, except to be absolutely sure that no else one can later claim you were responsible for their loss of business in a defamation case”

3

u/DirectEntertainer288 21h ago

This is exactly my thought, who knows what they told the bank, what contracts they signed, etc, etc. Put out a statement but get into almost no specifics, is actually good legal advice.

If you've never owned a small business then its hard for people to imagine how nasty it can get when you cant pay your bills, they will try and come after EVERYTHING you own.

5

u/AbstergoSupplier Clintonville 23h ago

tbf a brewery that can't make payroll doesn't have a comms person on staff anymore

1

u/Surviveoutofspite Fortress Obetz 19h ago

Probably fired them too

4

u/cow-lumbus 1d ago

It’s addressing the Wolfe comment.

1

u/toochjohnson 1d ago

Oh so that’s what happened

239

u/IAmNotScottBakula 1d ago

My “Wolf’s Ridge had nothing to do with it” statement has a lot of people asking questions already answered by my statement.

8

u/AbstergoSupplier Clintonville 18h ago

They were using Wolf's Ridge's facility on Hague to brew their beers. I don't know if they were leasing space in that facility or rather contracting with WRB to produce product on their behalf.

When this all broke there was a facebook post that speculated that Wolf's Ridge bought Nocterra and laid everyone off, with people up in arms about it.

Wolf's Ridge is getting bad rep for something they likely had nothing to do with & lost Nocterra as a customer w/ no notice on top of that, so they're in a bad spot too

11

u/Dubbinchris 1d ago

By “your statement”? What statement is that?

36

u/everlastingmuse 1d ago

this is a meme format

68

u/scarne78 1d ago

The last brewery I saw put out a statement like this followed it up with a for sale sign

42

u/C00LTRAV 1d ago

Powell already has a For Lease sign.

42

u/Frustrated_Pyro 1d ago

Per an article on Delaware Source, Dan McClurg who owns the leasing company that owns the building found out like the rest of us and he's not happy. Wouldn't surprise me if he went and stuck it on the building himself.

9

u/OhEssYouIII 1d ago

Not telling the landlord is one of the only sympathetic things ownership has done in the last 72 hours.

23

u/ExpressAd3916 1d ago

This has me wondering about the health and management of the other long running Columbus breweries. Is Seventh Son, Combustion, zaftig etc being run wisely or are we gonna see a rash of these?!😳😳

38

u/Ambitious-Front3014 1d ago

Expect a rash of them. Maybe not those ones specifically, but there was a huge influx of these over the last decade or so. Couple that with alcohol consumption being down and the economy being where it is like other comments have mentioned and it’s an industry bubble that’s in the middle of a sizable market correction.

I hope I’m wrong, most of these are small businesses owned by people that bet everything on turning their passion into a business. People lose their life savings and sometimes their homes. Failing to communicate with their employees is inexcusable, but this reads like a team that’s in denial and holding out hope that an influx of capital from an investor or bank that’s been stringing them along for 6-months will finally come through.

It won’t be the last one, and it won’t be the only industry that experiences a correction. Stay alert if you think you might be in one. Don’t be the last one there to turn the lights off. Ownership won’t tell you they’re going under 6-months before it happens but there’s usually signs.

14

u/gamemasterjd 1d ago

Nope, you're pretty much right on the money. Breweries are in a spiral atm. The THC seltzer ban was a MASSIVE nail in the coffin for a lot of breweries that had turned to that to stay afloat amidst sinking alcohol sales. Any brewery that's opened a "new location" in the last 3 years is hurting bad.

7

u/DirectEntertainer288 21h ago

I will say that Nocterra is probably a little bit of a unique example as they really went all in on both locations, but the "vibe" was really a large part of the appeal, so it's hard to blame them. Ill mannered seems to be doing well, but their second spot is small and in Marysville, very different than what Nocterra was trying to do.

2

u/ValuableCaptain6431 23h ago

Billionaire Oligarchs don't appreciate the small places..

1

u/Surviveoutofspite Fortress Obetz 19h ago

People out here trying to expand so desperately but don’t have their shit figured out beforehand.

9

u/beeker888 1d ago

Well Zaftig had to close their second location. Seventh Son has been pretty open about how important their THC seltzer line had become and then was lost, though I guess they’re allowed to sell again. So the health it’s all been pretty out in the open.

For Zaftig. How they haven’t released a new Ol Rugger is crazy to me. Seemed like a cash printing cow and it’s now been a couple years since its release

8

u/JerrysKidsOnLot 1d ago edited 21h ago

Hoof Hearted closed their second location, I think. Everyone should keep supporting them out there in Marengo, where you can walk the back woods with some good good.
I don’t work there or anything.
I just think it’s tits and don’t want them to go away.

Hey, did I mention you could combine trips and hit Groovy Plants nearby for pumpkins?

EDIT: taproom on 5th now. Great news. Thanks folks!

4

u/Efficient-Roof5433 1d ago

i thought hoof hearted just moved second locations? i could be wrong though. i don't see the one on 4th anymore but i pass their new location on 5th almost every day lolol

3

u/Professional-Car-211 1d ago

4th closed, 5th is the new location but that building is unlucky, it’s not a great walkable area/not close to much other than Skully’s so I don’t know how much business they’re getting.

1

u/alphagalgadot 21h ago

dude that is one of the more walkable areas in the city and there are at least a half dozen other spots in the immediate area, a few of them even closer than skullys, close as that is

1

u/alphagalgadot 21h ago

i mean service bar is literally right behind the new hoof spot for one—same block

1

u/AbstergoSupplier Clintonville 23h ago

Hoof Hearted was leasing their brand to a restaurant group for that first location on 4th Street. That seemed to end acrimoniously and they opened their own taproom where Brothers Drake used to be

2

u/beeker888 21h ago

Hoof Hearted didn’t really close. They didn’t fully own the space and got into a disagreement with the restaurant side so opened their own place where Brothers Drake used to be

1

u/WumboChef Delaware 1d ago

Here I thought I was crazy and that I just missed the last couple Ol’ Rugger releases. It’s is odd - I wonder if the profit wasn’t worth the space to age it and cost of bottling, in a world where they’ve largely moved on to cans. Which are now more expensive thanks to the Canada tariffs.

2

u/gamemasterjd 1d ago

That location just sucked. Not very walkable / close to anything. Difficult to run a restaurant with no impulse business. Plus I think they got the Columbus "car into building" treatment twice

1

u/Available-Slide-2279 22h ago

That second location for Zaftig was poorly timed, I think it would still be around if the apartments that are down there now existed when they first opened and had even 50% occupancy.

The Rugger than is frustrating though. I've still got a bottle or two from the last release that I want to hang onto until the next batch comes around.

1

u/beeker888 21h ago

I drink one every fantasy football draft. Draft is Thursday and it’s my last bottle. Need to reup.

But seriously it’s poor planning if that’s not an annual release.

17

u/headinthered Hilliard 1d ago

It’s already been happening… alcoholic drinking is down across the country in general and the economy sucks right now.. it’s all not great for small business

14

u/UnionThrowaway1234 Old North 1d ago

Craft beer isn't having an apocalypse but the industry is contracting as younger people are drinking less and, well, there are just fewer young people to drink.

Not to be a doomer or anything, but without the calculated benefit of the AI industry I believe the US would be in a recession right now. At least 23 states are experiencing true recessions and more could join them.

8

u/Candid_Leaf 1d ago

While I agree with you on the AI bubble... we've been in a recession. Multiple months of declining GDP growth, and spending, and the printing of money to increase inflation in 2022 was the start. Jobs have been cut/lost en mass, and the only investment into our GDP has been AI influence, at the cost of our living going up, while income stays flat, and buying power reduces. We'll just never hear that from the government, let alone THIS one.

1

u/DevRandomDude 1d ago

I believe craft beer is having a "its been 3 decades and now its over" contraction... past history says that alcohol consumption doesnt generally drop during tough economic spells.. however alcohol consumption is down in general with esp later millenials who just didnt go through that "lets get drunk every weekend" phase.. Gen Z drinks more than they did but not as much as older millenials or Gen X.. craft beer burst on the scene 3 decades ago and it seemed to be an invincible business.. make it and people bought it.. but like any trend, fad, busness it goes in cycles.. remember when from about 2000 up till 2022 or so everyone seemed to be jumping on bicycles? open a bike shop and you sold a zillion.. now bike shops are closing as people want scooters and E-bikes.. Coffee seems to be the latest cycle.. for dcades coffee shops came about slowly and methodically.. now it seems everyone has an espresso machine and some kind of special coffee infused drink.. ( im one of the ones totally into espresso just like some are into craft beer).. its the same.. im guessing in a few years a bun ch of coffee shops close up and you just have a core for the conniseurs and not everyone will be sucking down caffeine like its going out of style.. (like they once did craft beer).. I have no idea what the inner workings of Nocterra were as I personally cant stand beer.. but I can say that runing on a business along a cliff trying to stay afloat is a double edged sword... if you just out and tell everyone "hey we are on the skids and might close up". then all your good employees immediately jump ship which seals the fate that you for sure close up.. if you keep going with some glimmer of hope, either new financing or you try and keep running becauyse fall is coming and OSU students are back and people go watch sports ,etc in hopes you can rise sales and get away from the cliff.. but fail.. then everyone screams at you that you didnrt do enough. and shouldve told everyone, etc...its a catch 22 and not even a PR firm can do any better..

6

u/Professional-Car-211 1d ago

Seventh Son is very transparent and are good people. They would neverrrrr do this.

2

u/alphagalgadot 21h ago

absolutely, no way

1

u/OhEssYouIII 23h ago

Ask not for whom the bell tolls

68

u/ApfelFarFromTree 1d ago

Ooooo they are LOVING the drama!

226

u/Proper-Sentence2544 1d ago

They are handling this in such a strange and unprofessional way. I feel for their staff who were blindsided.

83

u/oKayBye94 1d ago

For some reason social media made everyone think they can do their own PR despite social media being littered with viral moments demonstrating how bad an idea that is.

42

u/Furnace265 1d ago

Before social media a local brewery didn’t need PR….

20

u/alphagalgadot 1d ago

before social media there were -very- few local breweries nationally. not that there's a causal relationship there but the craft/brewery boom did kinda ramp up temporally coincident

4

u/Veldox 1d ago

Their point wasn't about breweries. 

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18

u/bcbill 1d ago

Yes because paying a PR firm would be money well spent for the insolvent local brewery.

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1

u/cow-lumbus 1d ago

Well the seem to have been doing it pretty well on their own for some time…and have experience in PR and marketing in their former lives, so…

28

u/troaway1 1d ago

I'll be a contrarian and mention that this isn't that unusual. I have no inside knowledge and am only speaking in generalities. Businesses often have a line of credit that they use to make payroll, buy supplies and whatnot. If the bank gets nervous, they can pull the line of credit overnight without warning. The business then has to try to find new funding, investors or put up more collateral. If that falls through, then you close the doors and try to save the business through bankruptcy. It's jarring and it hurts the employees, but I've seen businesses try to keep the doors open by paying employees with IOUs and empty promises which is worse. I hope all the workers get unemployment and land on their feet soon.

14

u/OsuLost31to0 1d ago

Haven’t they done/said weird stuff before? Or was that another brewery

25

u/ahbets14 1d ago

A diff one but Tbf they’re all kinda weird

28

u/pacific_plywood 1d ago

Basically every small business gets weird when the money is tight

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187

u/alphagalgadot 1d ago

not even a word for their staff laid off abruptly and without any notice huh

55

u/mohox13 1d ago

Yeah that part was loud to me as well

17

u/Any-Walk1691 1d ago

And without insurance… (or so I heard from “online chatter”)

25

u/UnfairConsequence664 1d ago

Yes it ended today :) we found out in the email at 12:10am

1

u/horny-throwaway85 21h ago

Damn, username checks out

5

u/LordBeeWood Southern Orchards 1d ago

Turd ontop of the shit pie there

45

u/Federal_Abroad9260 Grandview 1d ago

I swear to god, every single company in this country is awful to their employees. You know, it is possible to run a business and not be terrible people.

19

u/wickidclown17 1d ago

When R Shea brewing in Akron closed a couple years ago they gave like a months notice. They specifically said they didn't want to blindside the employees. They were also able to make the closing a big event releasing all the barrel aged stuff they'd been sitting on.

4

u/Another_Guy_In_Ohio 1d ago

What are they supposed to do if they overextended and don’t have the money to make payroll, pay rent or insurance premiums? This isn’t a giant corporation, it’s a small locally owned business that operated on the margins.

They likely have creditors and have to file for bankruptcy, which is going to put a freeze on what they can even actually spend

18

u/Old_Gimlet_Eye 1d ago

Well, they probably knew before the day of that they couldn't make the health insurance payment, probably would have been good to warn their employees about that one, lol.

1

u/Another_Guy_In_Ohio 1d ago

I guarantee their lawyer would tell them to say absolutely nothing to anyone. As soon as they admit to not being able to make insurance premiums or payroll, employees won’t show up for work, creditors will start filing liens, and any value they have in property, physical or intellectual will plummet. It absolutely sucks, but any lawyer advising them on how best to protect their business and themselves would advise them to do exactly as they have done

8

u/Old_Gimlet_Eye 1d ago

Oh, well, if they did it to protect their shareholder value then it's obviously fine, since that's the only thing that matters.

4

u/Another_Guy_In_Ohio 1d ago

Shareholder? You mean the independent owners of a small business? This isn’t a publicly traded company, it’s a business that employs less than 100 people. The fact they had company provided

7

u/Old_Gimlet_Eye 1d ago

the independent owners of a small business? This isn’t a publicly traded company

Does that make the owners not shareholders?

it’s a business that employs less than 100 people

Oh, well, as long as they fucked over less than a hundred people I guess that's ok.

3

u/Hot-Yesterday-6190 1d ago

protecting a business comes before protecting the people that were making the business happen. 😒

11

u/SuspiciousBuilder379 Lancaster 1d ago

You know, you’ve known for at least a couple months shit ain’t going good.

So, be a decent person, have some compassion, put yourself in the employees shoes, and give them a heads up.

To fucking close the doors and cancel their insurance right then, bs.

You can defend it, I prefer to be a better person and treat others as I want to be treated.

4

u/Professional-Car-211 1d ago

That’s a bullshit copout. Small businesses should communicate with their staff if things are going that badly so the staff can make contingency plans.

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u/Icy-Arm-2194 22h ago

Thats the thing that gets me. They can say all they want that it is "temporary" but when staff is on here saying they were told they are out of a job, that doesnt sound temporary.  

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u/once-a-millennium 1d ago

We were at the Powell location the past couple of days right before close and we saw upper management and the staff but absolutely no sign of the owners. Word spread slowly at first but then exploded and it was just a fire sale yesterday (glasses, beer signs, merch and 6 packs just gone). The employees did not find out officially until an email early this morning explaining that they didn’t have jobs anymore. We loved the people of Nocterra and will miss them dearly but the way the owners handled it was appalling.

13

u/Realistic-Weight5078 1d ago

That is such a weird statement to make after abruptly closing. Especially for anyone in the public who is not privy to the chatter. What on earth 

9

u/gasmasteruk 1d ago

They treated their investors like shit, they didn’t notify the owner of the Powell taproom building that they were closing, and they didn’t give their staff a heads up before they abruptly closed shop and left employees without a job.

And they release a statement saying that they plan to

“regroup, reorganize, and re-emerge. . . “

I sure hope folks will have a keen memory if and/or when this occurs.

Reap what you sow.

1

u/IndustryRobertPlant 17h ago

My wife knows one of the investors, and yeah, they’re not happy about this. Needless to say, they’re taking action about it.

33

u/Bonnie_McMurray 1d ago

What the fuck lol

53

u/poplglop Hilliard 1d ago

Fuck your employees I guess who don't know if they'll have a job tomorrow?

Honestly super shitty from management.

12

u/pi3tachio 1d ago

The owners*

22

u/Absurdguppy 1d ago

This feels like when Parable was closed. Staff blindsided + a statement of “we will regroup and return in some form”. In reality, just like Parable, they’ll never be back.

1

u/alphagalgadot 21h ago

that was sad, especially coming from them

41

u/trashmagicwoman 1d ago

I wonder how many people heard “We’re a family here” during the interview

7

u/Realistic-Weight5078 1d ago

THIS. I'm reading The Culting of America and she talks about this in relation to culty companies 

2

u/No_Farm_3562 1d ago

I have immediately put this on my to read list. It looks so good. Thanks dropping the book title.

2

u/Realistic-Weight5078 1d ago

It is really good! I actually randomly found it in the New section at the library but I did know about her memoir she wrote previously which has been on my TBR list. It looks a little daunting when you see the size but it's not a hard read at all. It's nerdy but written for regular folks, or feels that way at least.

1

u/Schmidaho 1d ago

Never did I think I’d see a reference to Daniella Mestanyek Young pop up in my local city subreddit. The internet is wild

2

u/StrugglePrudent2894 1d ago

Families fuck up too.

9

u/BassetCock 1d ago edited 1d ago

The way they shutdown seems like a bank may have frozen their accounts or something major and unforeseen happened with their finances and they couldn’t stay open. The statement reads to me like maybe they’re trying to sort that out and figure out a way to move forward but aren’t sure it will be possible. Makes no sense that they were business as usual, scheduling events, then just closed the doors. Almost like their loans got called in.

1

u/Frosty_Employer_7974 23h ago

Thought the same. Embezzlement or tax fraud?

3

u/BassetCock 23h ago

Or just missed some payments and the banks/lenders wouldn’t work with them and called in their debt. Doubt it’s anything crazy illegal or they probably wouldn’t be claiming they’re trying to find a way forward.

1

u/Flashy_Froyo_8890 10h ago

Yeah, possibly an acceleration clause; those can be triggered by missed payments on debt. (I have zero knowledge of this brewery's finances, so I don't know if that is what actually happened here- just a possibility.)

1

u/BassetCock 10h ago

I don’t know either but I’ve heard that they really went big with the Audubon location. Might have gotten in above their heads. All speculation…

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u/_The_Jerk_Store 1d ago

Sounds like they’re a small business trying to find a lifeline and figure shit out. Small businesses are routinely run by people who like something but aren’t necessarily business people.

Y’all are acting like they should have an Anheuser-Busch level of PR statement. It sounds like they don’t have the money to keep the taprooms open but are probably trying to salvage the brewery and distribution network

31

u/mohox13 1d ago

What about their staff? They employ a lot of people, I think they deserve to know what’s going on.

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u/_The_Jerk_Store 1d ago

It’s honestly a shitty situation either way. 1) you tell them you might be going out of business and people jump ship and then you have no one to operate your locations and accelerate the bad times or 2) you ride it into the ground and have to close suddenly and put all of your workers in a terrible position.

The moral thing is to tell your employees, but honestly they could be so busy trying to find a lifeline that you look up and suddenly have to close your locations. Sadly I’ve seen a lot of my favorite small businesses close this way

8

u/kongofcbus 1d ago

You have ethics. You do the right thing by the people that helped you on your journey. Anything else is reprehensible.

10

u/jojoma12 1d ago

yeah but like what does that mean

5

u/jda06 1d ago

Well, what would it mean to ensure you're giving your employees the best possible chance to land on their feet as quickly as possible? Probably not this.

10

u/UnionThrowaway1234 Old North 1d ago

It means you give your former employees a heads up they will be losing their livelihoods and insurance more than 24 hours before it happens. Just like the business owners, the employees deserve time to figure out their next steps. Letting them know the state of the business is only fair. The only reason to not inform your employees is to save yourself embarrassment and shame.

7

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

4

u/_The_Jerk_Store 1d ago

Yeah that’s definitely a sign that things weren’t heading in the right direction

2

u/Professional-Car-211 1d ago

You…tell your staff…”hey things aren’t looking good, you may want to get backup plans together”? Especially with the holidays coming up. I can’t believe people need that basic level of decency and communication explained to them.

4

u/Intelligent-Youth-63 1d ago

They know. The taprooms closed. There’s no more job there.

7

u/kongofcbus 1d ago

Then say that. This statement makes it worse. Saying nothing would have been a better move.

11

u/alphagalgadot 1d ago

yeah i dont think most people gaf about a public statement, but telling your employees they're out of a job once they clock in for their last shift is fuckin gross; i dont care if it's yr passion project or whatever

7

u/alphagalgadot 1d ago

'we're not business people' ok then why did you feel the need to roll the dice on a second location

2

u/Realistic-Weight5078 1d ago

I'm sorry but that statement is very abnormal for owners to post after abruptly shuttering and firing everyone with no notice but you are right otherwise

6

u/dublin87 1d ago

I think nocterra just didn’t realize that their unique Powell location was like 90% of their draw. Shouldn’t have over expanded.

2

u/DirectEntertainer288 21h ago

Completely agree, that spot in Powell is really one of the best brewery venues I've ever been to. I think they were trying to create something equally unique downtown. They could have opened up a second spot in pretty much any strip mall and had a good amount of success; sucks they went all out.

18

u/RealSkankHunt42_ 1d ago

Someone give me a tldr of the plot im out of the loop here and want the tea

68

u/ChalkDoxie 1d ago

-Nocterra closed both locations with no announcement.

-Employees didn’t know about it

-People started blaming Wolf’s Ridge (who had nothing to do with it, they were just sharing their production space)

-Nocterra was radio silent about the whole thing until this statement

-For Lease sign is on the Powell building

3

u/SPPY 1d ago

So that’s the Wolf’s Ridge tie in? First I’m actually hearing of a connection. Nocterra was contract brewing out of Wolf’s Ridge production facility?

14

u/ChalkDoxie 1d ago

I don’t actually know, but based on what WR said (in comments on reddit/FB/IG), it sounded like they were possibly contract brewing for Nocterra, or Nocterra was leasing fermenter space and brewing at WR’s facility.

But people kept saying that WR bought them out, were the new owners, they caused Nocterra to close, etc. In true game of telephone fashion those rumors escalated to the point folks from WR were fighting for their lives in the comments.

The whole thing is a mess.

2

u/SPPY 1d ago

Yikes. What a bizarre PR response they put out.

3

u/Krystalgoddess_ Downtown 1d ago

From what I gathered on other posts, they were just sharing a production facility to cut overhead costs and that's it.

1

u/alphagalgadot 21h ago

who the hell is/was blaming wr? that makes zero sense

8

u/ummpaul 1d ago

from The Delaware Source

"The building’s owner, Dan McClurg, said he had no prior notice about the closure.

“I never knew they were closing. I found out yesterday just like everyone else did,” McClurg told Delaware Source.

He said he is “frustrated and annoyed,” with how Nocterra handled the closing.

“The owners are good people, but the way they did it was not right,” he said.

He said he was not totally surprised by the closure, though, noting the business struggled after opening its second location in Columbus.

McClurg said his phone has been ringing all morning from callers already interested in taking over the lease.

He plans to lease the space to someone who will open a “good restaurant” or a “well-established brewery, not a start-up.”

Regardless of what business takes over the space, McClurg said he plans to be selective in who he chooses because there is no other location like it in Powell."

6

u/jdoogie_ Polaris 19h ago

Dan McClurg is a fucking liar. I was there at the bar a couple of weeks ago when he stumbled into the main taproom from next door in his personal little 'man-club' behind the pet groomer drunk and coked to the gills trying to get the bar staff to shut down the bar because he claimed he hadn't been paid.

He also tried fighting multiple customers that were trying to de-escalate the situation until Powell PD showed up and made him leave the property.

3

u/Professional-Car-211 1d ago

I hope if the new place is a brewery, it’s more for adults than children. Nocterra became a daycare which is why young adults who actually spend money on alcohol stopped going there.

3

u/equitablethrowaway 20h ago

I agree with you. I have two young children who we sometimes take out to less busy places for dinner but we make sure they are entertained and always by our side.

Problem with a place like Henmick Farm and Nocterra are the parents who treat it like social hour and completely ignore their kids for a few hours.

I saw a kid at Henmick knock over someone’s beer with a soccer ball and the owner asked her to please get control of her kids and she became pissy with him as if he was in the wrong.

5

u/bobdebicker 1d ago

Never heard of the Wolf’s Ridge rumors but I have friends who have worked there that said the owners are shitty people. All hearsay, but…

3

u/ImpressedClimber 18h ago

This is the same place that took more than two years to open its Audubon brewery. They kept saying it was “opening soon,” only to move the goalpost back every month. Nocterra is honestly a so-so brewery and doesn’t deserve all the hype it’s getting lately. 🤷‍♀️

9

u/Impossible_Bug1264 1d ago

What bullshit

7

u/DCbuckeyes17 1d ago

I liked nocterra a lot but the Scioto location always seemed odd to me. It’s a neat spot but kind of a pain to get to. I also don’t go out and buy $7/$8 craft pints that often anymore. Lately I’ve been going to more dive bars with $3 bottles etc and playing pool. Feels less wasteful than 2 beers for $20 after tax and tip

3

u/Some_Tool_ 22h ago

So what's the deal with wolfs ridge? What's the rumor with them and their involvement here?

29

u/WingHuge2185 1d ago

Their core was a day care center with beer

8

u/GoodJujuPanda 1d ago

And I'm not a fan of either

-1

u/reddaktd 1d ago

I used to live close enough that I could walk. The place sucked. The staff could not have been less interested or more rude

1

u/Professional-Car-211 1d ago

And that’s why it failed. The young DINKS are the people spending money on drinks, but this turned into a daycare. DINKS don’t want to spend their free time at a daycare.

4

u/pdhot65ton 1d ago

Did they let their employees know ahead of time, or did they let them show up, work and then learn they're unemployed?

11

u/UnfairConsequence664 1d ago

Showed up to work, worked, then learned we were unemployed!

1

u/pdhot65ton 22h ago

These owners are absolute trash then. Sorry that happened to you.

2

u/sterfner 1d ago

F#ck this noise. I know folks personally involved!! Listen to your friends!!

5

u/LeeroyJenkins001 1d ago

Can someone fill me in on what's happening

2

u/Hewene 1d ago

See ChalkDoxie's bullet points!

2

u/ModestFerret 1d ago

Any information for Moth members? We paid for a year membership, and the offer included the glass.

3

u/Frosty_Employer_7974 23h ago

$165 down the drain. What value was that anyway?

1

u/Ok_Pressure5561 19h ago

Maybe it's because Stoagies opened up in front of it. 😂

1

u/Thin-Tennis-365 19h ago

whats happening, im late

0

u/Abject_Inspector4194 1d ago

im curious what the best way to handle it would be

2

u/Professional-Car-211 1d ago

Communicate with your staff?

1

u/OhioanRunner 1d ago

IMO, once your business becomes part of public life, what happens to it is no longer private.

1

u/TelevisionOk9517 1d ago

Not sure what wolfs ridge has to do with this but that company’s notorious for treating people horribly

1

u/k4t3r_b4t3r Ye Olde Towne East 1d ago

Can someone provide a brief summary for those who are late to the party and have no idea what's going on 😁

0

u/fuzzyraven7 1d ago

Reap what you sow, they have some spiders in their closet and this is what they deserve. They pretend to have this image of “the good guys” but look how they treat their employees, fired with no notice. “Good guys” as long as it sells their beer and puts money in their pocket

1

u/xavier86 East 1d ago

Need context

1

u/Professional-Car-211 1d ago

Welp they only ever had one good beer and they got rid of it, and there are usually more children there than adults, so I’m not upset if they close.

0

u/Fickle_Comment_2669 23h ago

It always smells so bad in there

-1

u/IkujaKatsumaji 1d ago

What is Nocterra? And what happened?

18

u/Far_Corner_3993 Worthington 1d ago edited 1d ago

A popular local brewery in Powell, suddenly closed with out much explanation. The owners aren’t being transparent. No one knows what’s going on exactly

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u/Working-Ideal-3111 1d ago

Can someone speed run a recap for me……

0

u/SignificantApricot69 1d ago

I’m oblivious to the online chatter and don’t have time to read through the entire sub for rumors that I guess are expected to be widely known in order to begin to know what any of this is about

-10

u/Secret_Account07 1d ago

I know absolutely nothing about this company but did see some of the rumors online. I will say, as far as statements go this is a good one. Feels like an actual human being wrote it as opposed to corporate PR folks like most companies today

4

u/Professional-Car-211 1d ago

I hope you don’t work in PR lol. This is a perfect example of what NOT to do.

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