Over the past year, a local brewing company has used the pandemic as a way to pivot and expand its business. Now, in just a little over one year, the Eastern Market Brewing Company (EMBC) will spread its wings to the neighboring suburb of Detroit, Royal Oak. The fully-functioning facility will help reach a new legion of customers and will provide ample space for new business ventures.
In February 2020, the Eastern Market Brewing Company opened the doors to its second business venture. Located in Ferndale, it focuses on hop-forward IPAs and fruit-forward kettle sours. As the pandemic began to take hold of the bar and restaurant industry, businesses were forced to find new ways to drive business toward.
As the Eastern Market Brewing Company strived to keep up with the drastic changes brought on by COVID-19, the beer house created a delivery service, Peddler, that would bring craft beers straight to the doors of consumers. It has since expanded thanks in large part to partnerships with several local craftspeople looking for new avenues to sell their products directly to consumers. Growing out of its space at the Ferndale Project location, the parent company began looking for a new home for Peddler earlier this year.
“Like many throughout our industry, 2020 was a whirlwind. We had to get creative to survive. Fast forward to today and all of our hard work has led to multiple new opportunities that we’re excited to explore. From home beer delivery to coffee to donuts to Detroit-style pizza, the team has been busy,” says Dayne Bartscht, founder and managing partner of Eastern Market Brewing Company.
The former ROAK Brewing Company facility will now house Peddler and its partners’ products. With a nearly 17,000-square-foot warehouse near the heart of downtown Royal Oak, the new facility will be located 15 minutes from both the Eastern Market and Ferndale Project taprooms. Equipped with a full kitchen and pizza oven, the Royal Oak location has the room and coolers needed to make and store beer. Since the establishment was already a brewing company, the existing infrastructure is just what the company needs to scale up their brewing operations over the next several years.
“Our goal this year is to get our house in order. Once we found the time to take a deep breath and plan for the future, we came to the realization that we needed more dedicated space for our new ventures. While it may seem contradictory, we needed to expand once again to begin controlling the chaos,” says Shalyn Getz, president of Eastern Market Brewing Co.
Being sure to reflect the hip and eclectic Royal Oak neighborhood, EMBC hopes to immerse the culture into their newest brewery.
“Ultimately, just as we approached the Ferndale Project, 330 E. Lincoln will become a new brewery concept,” said Getz. “We will always be taproom-focused and it’s important to us that each location reflects the neighborhood. I’m proud that both our Eastern Market and Ferndale locations share our mission of fostering human connection through craft, but the spaces and products are uniquely their own. We’re still building the strategy for what that looks like in Royal Oak. But I’ll give a hint: lots of barrel-aging.”
EMBC has just recently began releasing barrel-aged beers at both their Eastern Market and Ferndale Project taprooms. With a third in production, the new 30-barrel brewhouse will ensure customers are able to have access to their favorite craft brews and keep them coming in a post-pandemic world and beyond. The founder is in no rush to complete the project as workers have dedicated the past year on the project. Slated to open later this year, the new Royal Oak facility will also be used to continue to expand the brand.
“Having opened two breweries, we know that it takes time to develop and execute a concept. On top of that, our entire team worked long hours throughout 2020. We all need to find time this year to get away and recharge,” says Bartscht. “In the best-case scenario, we could open the new location to the public by the end of the year. In the meantime, we’re going to use the space to further expand our Peddler delivery service, scale the media contact and social media production of our vegan donut company, Dooped Donuts, and soon, we’ll announce a new pizza company based on the Detroit-style pizzas our Ferndale Project customers grew to love. Stay tuned!”
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