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February 19 - March 4, 2021
Greater Wilmington Business Journal
wilmingtonbiz.com
RESTAURANT ROUNDUP
BUSINESS OF LIFE
This is a sampling of stories from the Business Journal’s weekly Restaurant Roundup email. Subscribe at wilmingtonbiz.com.
Longtime brewing firm buys Skytown Beer Co. Catawba Valley Brewing Co., one of the Southeast’s oldest and largest family-owned craft brewers, has announced its expansion to North Carolina’s coast, having acquired Skytown Beer Co. at 4712 New Centre Drive in Wilmington. Family restaurateurs Hayley Jensen, Stephen Durley, Carol Jensen and Michael Jensen expanded upon their success with Beer Barrio by opening Skytown Beer Co. in 2018. The concept featured Jensen’s and Durley’s national award-winning homebrew recipes paired with barbecue and pub fare. “When the opportunity presented itself to pass the torch to a great company like Catawba, we were excited to see them take the concept to the next level,” Hayley Jensen said in a news release. “It’s a crazy time to be a restaurant owner, and when you’re approached with a great offer from someone you respect, you do your best to make a good business decision. We’re very happy.” According to the release from Catawba, the company has been scouting locations in the Wilmington area for some time. “We knew Hayley and Stephen from Beer Barrio, their Front Street restaurant, and a few very cooperative conversations with them resulted in us buying their brewery location,” said Billy Pyatt, Catawba’s CEO and co-owner, in the release. “The purchase closed Feb. 10, and we hope to be making new, coastally-inspired beverages and serving all the Catawba/Palmetto/Twisp favorites at 4712 New Centre Drive by late February.” Catawba currently operates breweries and retail tasting rooms in Asheville, Charlotte, Morganton and Charleston, South Carolina, with distribution extending to Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.
Vivian Howard to headline Feast Down East Feast Down East will host its 11th annual Local Food Conference from March 5-6. This year’s event will be held virtually, with chef, author and TV personality Vivian Howard deliv-
ering the keynote address. Feast Down East aims to bring together those in the community working to support and grow the local food system in Southeastern North Carolina. The annual conference is a gathering of farmers, fishermen, food retailers and establishments, foodies, advocates and community leaders to discuss the issues each are facing and strengthen the relationships between them. This year’s virtual workshop topics include agricultural and gardening techniques, cooking demonstrations and the policy work of local food councils and nonprofit organizations that are trying to combat food insecurity. Tickets are $50. More information is available on the Feast Down East website (feastdowneast.org).
Bitty & Beau’s announces Boston franchise Bitty & Beau’s Coffee announced via Facebook this month that its newest franchise agreement will bring Bitty & Beau’s to Boston later this year. Following the announcement of the first franchise location in Washington, D.C., last October, four more agreements were signed by the end of the year for locations in Charlotte and Winston-Salem, as well as Athens, Georgia, and Waco, Texas. Founder Amy Wright said the franchisee in Athens has signed a lease, and that each of the other franchisees are still actively scouting the perfect locations. Wright hinted that a lease for the Washington, D.C., location is expected to be signed shortly for a space in Georgetown and expects all six locations, including Boston, to be operational by the end of the year. “We have about another half-dozen agreements in the works so there may in fact be more than six openings by year’s end,” Wright said. Bitty & Beau’s currently employs 120 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities at its corporate stores in Wilmington, Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah and Annapolis, Maryland. Wright said each of the new locations will employ about 20 more individuals with disabilities, helping them to double their current number of employees this year. - Jessica Maurer
