Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant Shutters All Locations

On Thursday, East Coast brewery and restaurant chain Iron Hill announced that it closed all 16 of its locations overnight. Primarily concentrated in the Southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware areas, Iron Hill also had locations in Georgia, New Jersey, and South Carolina.

The brewery and restaurant announced the news in a Facebook post, but didn’t share a specific reason for the abrupt closure. “To our valued guests, after many wonderful years of serving our communities, all Iron Hill Locations have closed,” the post read. “It has been our pleasure to serve you, and we are deeply grateful for your support, friendship, and loyalty over the years.”

The announcement arrives just two weeks after Iron Hill closed three locations across Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, citing the decision as a way to “position Iron Hill for long-term success.” Included in that closure was the chain’s flagship location in Newark, Del., which opened its doors in 1996.

According to a report from Brewbound, Iron Hill’s employees weren’t given much notice ahead of the closures. Kelli Todd, a South Carolina-based employee, shared screenshots with the publication revealing that she and her fellow workers had been notified via Restaurant365 (a restaurant management platform) overnight on September 25. In the message, the restaurant pointed to ongoing financial challenges.

“The company has made the difficult decision to file for bankruptcy and, regrettably, will be permanently closing its doors,” the message reads. “We understand that this news is coming with limited notice; however we have been working diligently behind the scenes to secure new sources of funding and explore alternative solutions to avoid this situation.”

Despite the statement suggesting that the company plans to file for bankruptcy, Brewbound notes that, as of publication, no such filing has been made with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Brewbound also notes that Iron Hill does not appear to have filed Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARN) in the states it operated in — a filing that is federally required before any mass layoff. (Per the U.S. Department of Labor, a mass layoff entails “50 or more workers at a single site, where 50 is at least one-third of the total full-time workforce at that site, or any layoffs of 500 or more workers at a single site.”)

In the social media post announcing the shuttering, Iron Hill shared that it hopes to return soon. As the message concludes “We sincerely hope to return in the future, and when we do, we promise to welcome you with open arms.”

The article Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant Shutters All Locations appeared first on VinePair.