Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
BREWING UP BUSINESS
Brewery thrives despite pandemic, ‘ unprecedented’ first year in business
AVONDALE » At the close of November, Be Here Brewing celebrated its one- year anniversary as a new business in the borough.
“We would have loved to celebrate our anniversary with a full house of customers and live music,” said Dan Knabb, co- owner of Be Here Brewing. “Of course that wasn’t possible. Instead of having a large celebration, we released a very small batch sour version of our flagship IPA North of Here.”
Be Here is Avondale’s first and only brew pub. The business is located at 122 Pennsylvania Ave. inside a fully renovated 125- year- old building. Constructed in 1895, the venue was originally home to the National Bank of Avondale.
Be Here Brewing, which is locally owned and operated, first opened its doors to the public last
year on Nov. 29, 2019.
Nov. 29, this year, served the business well as the nation officially celebrated Small Brewery Sunday, which promotes local breweries, Knabb noted.
A graduate of Avon Grove High School, Knabb owns the Avondale business alongside his partner Maura Langley, and his father, Bob Knabb. Both father and son are brewmasters.
Be Here offers a dozen handcrafted artisan beers, brewed on site, and freshly prepared sandwiches, flatbreads and salads.
“As a new business these past 10 months have been a challenge,” Knabb said in reflection. An entrepreneur, he is the president of Be Here Brewing. “In the three months before March of this year, we felt like we got off to a great start.”
Knabb continued, “We were just starting to make a name for
ourselves, and establish regular customers when we were forced to close. We’ve been lucky to keep some of those same customers through all phases of operation and continue to welcome new people.”
The new business swiftly adapted to Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown mandates, which began on March 13 with the closure of all Pennsylvania schools and extended to a weekend order for all nonessential businesses, including barber shops and real estate agencies, to close operations. These orders were issued under the governor’s ongoing disaster emergency declaration to combat COVID19 in the Commonwealth.
Experts estimated that more than half of small businesses will close forever in 2020 because of the pandemic crisis, which ignited a wave of ‘ unprecedented’ government- ordered closures of enterprises deemed non- essential to the public good by the Wolf administration and other governors across the nation. According to a CNBC report on Sept. 16, Yelp data found that 60 percent of businesses forced to suspend operations, due to the coronavirus crisis, are now permanently closed.
Pennsylvania’s restaurants in 2019 reported an estimated $ 25.7 billion in sales and provided the Commonwealth with 582,800 jobs, representing 10 percent of all intrastate employment, according to the National Restaurant Association and the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association.
However, between March and April, Pennsylvania’s restaurant sales decreased to $ 1.8 billion, the advocacy association said, and 332,000 restaurant employees were either laid off or furloughed.
“We believe we’ve approached business during the pandemic with the safety of our customers and staff as our foremost priority,” Knabb said. “Although we had minimal experience with takeout sales prior to March, we quickly took advantage of the drive- up lane from the days when our building had been a bank.”
From mid- March until late- spring, restaurants and pubs could not serve people inside their venues.
“In June, when restrictions were relaxed to allow outdoor dining we completed our beer garden and patio area with the addition of 10 picnic tables,” Knabb stated. “We continued to prioritize outdoor seating until recently, when we completed the Pennsylvania Self- Certifi cation process that allows us to have customers inside at up to 50 percent capacity.”
Despite 10 months of challenges caused by the 2020 pandemic shutdown, hope remains bright for Knabb as he looks to the future following the celebration of Be Here’s fi rst year anniversary this past Sunday.
“Like other businesses in the food and beverage industry, we are very much looking forward to things getting back to normal,” said brewmaster Knabb. “As a new business we’re not even really sure what normal is. We do know that we’ll be very happy to go back to a busy bar with people of all walks of life enjoying our great food, beer and atmosphere.”
Be Here still has a limited amount of autumn seasonals, including our very popular Oktoberfest and Pumpkin Ale made with pumpkins grown nearby in London Grove at Glen Willow Orchards. “For the upcoming holiday season we’ll be serving Be Merry! — a festive rich and high abv brew with honey and pomegranate,” Knabb said. Be Merry! isn’t ready for purchase just yet, however. “It will still be in the tanks for another couple of weeks.”
Note of thanks
“We can’t thank our customers enough for their support,” he said. “In addition, we want to thank all of our wonderful employees. It means a lot to all of us when people tell us how warm and friendly our staff is.”
Life is quite busy these days for Knabb and his family. Knabb and his partner, Maura, are expecting the birth of a new baby soon.
“Without question the tremendous support we’ve received from the community has not only kept us going but kept our spirits up.”
The Avondale brewpub is open 4 p. m. to 9 p. m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 4 p. m. to 10 p. m. Fridays, noon to 10 p. m. Saturdays and noon to 9 p. m. Sundays.
“We’ve benefited from an outpouring of support, whether it be by customers who are here for takeout week after week, or by those who spread the word about our business by word of mouth or through social media,” Knabb said.
Knabb said as a small, local brewpub his team can’t afford an extensive marketing campaign. “We very much appreciate the attention we’ve received from the Daily Local, and through the Brandywine Valley Brew Scene, the Chester County Conference & Visitors Bureau, and the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce.”
“We are only able to be here because of the support of the community,” Knabb said.