Huntsville/Madison Development News (how much, live, to move)

[Tennhioland]

Originally Posted by bmrisko

That sucks...I'm not driving from Madison down there for growler fills. Looks like Madison's only option will be Fresh Spirits on County Line, which usually has a pretty good beer selection.

Keep an eye out for The Casual Pint, which I hear is coming to Madison. Stem & Stein does growler fills. And of course the breweries can all fill growlers to go now.

Will be interesting to see if the Kroger Marketplace to be built at 72 and County Line will offer growlers. They do in many of their other locations.

[Marc45002]

Originally Posted by bmrisko

That sucks...I'm not driving from Madison down there for growler fills. Looks like Madison's only option will be Fresh Spirits on County Line, which usually has a pretty good beer selection.

+1 I am not going to drive into Huntsville to fill up my growlers; I guess I will go to S&S or one of the breweries. Kind of hoping this backfires on them; they have built up a devoted clientele in western madison and limestone counties.

Marc

[DaMadHatter]

Originally Posted by Marc45002

+1 I am not going to drive into Huntsville to fill up my growlers; I guess I will go to S&S or one of the breweries. Kind of hoping this backfires on them; they have built up a devoted clientele in western madison and limestone counties.

Marc

Not hoping it backfires but I hope they thought it through. Moving this far from your customer base is an interesting business decision.

[bmrisko]

Originally Posted by Tennhioland

Keep an eye out for The Casual Pint, which I hear is coming to Madison. Stem & Stein does growler fills. And of course the breweries can all fill growlers to go now.

Will be interesting to see if the Kroger Marketplace to be built at 72 and County Line will offer growlers. They do in many of their other locations.

Thanks, I wasn't aware S&S did fills. I know about the local breweries, but sometimes I like filling with stuff that isn't local and WYWB usually had a great selection.

Granted, the move may put them closer to other like-minded businesses and clients at Campus 805, but that area is already full of other similar beer stores (Liquor Express, OTBX, etc). I knew of people from Athens who drive to WYWB and they most definitely aren't driving twice as far to downtown.

An interesting business decision for sure...

[deesonic]

Originally Posted by Marc45002

+1 I am not going to drive into Huntsville to fill up my growlers; I guess I will go to S&S or one of the breweries. Kind of hoping this backfires on them; they have built up a devoted clientele in western madison and limestone counties.

Marc

Hi Marc. I am the owner of Wish You Were Beer, Damon Eubanks. I find it disappointing that you hope "this backfires" on us. We are a truly independent and veteran owned businesses who gave up our day jobs to get behind this concept that we wholeheartedly believe in. My wife and I have put EVERYTHING on the line to make this business successful, and only we can make the difficult decisions that most others can sit on the sidelines and second guess without risk of failure either way. I promise you the decision to move was not made without lots of sleepless nights and constant second guessing. That never ends when you own a small business. This is how we make a living and take care of our children after all. I'm sorry if it makes people in Madison angry with us, but we have to do what is best for our business for the long haul.

I am not going to get into a lot of detail, but let's just say the future of WYWB was not all that rosy in our current location and the decision to move was absolutely necessary. Our original plan was to stay in Madison. We scouted for a suitable location in Madison first and foremost. Unfortunately we could not find one at this time. With the lease running out by year's end, we had to either hunker down and weather the storm on Highway 72 or find a new place that would offer us our best chance of long-term success.

And we definitely love Madison and hope to return very soon. Our goal is to get the Campus No. 805 location up and running and revisit a second location for the Madison sometime in 2017. In the meantime, sure, check out Tim and Fresh Spirits. He's an old friend and fellow SR Butler High alumnus who I've know since I was about 12 years old. Or support Stem & Stein. We love Ali and Jess over there! And of course, visit the breweries themselves that are in Madison. I don't expect you all to visit us as much as when we were in your backyard, but hope you will come see us when you can. We think you will love the new spot and Campus No. 805 will be awesome! We thank you for all of your support over our first three years and look forward to seeing you again soon.

[NoleFanHSV]

Seems to be some hating on Reddit about the move. Driving from Madison to Huntsville is hardly a big deal, especially if the producs and service are great.

[Reactionary]

Thanks for responding Damon. As someone living on the east side of Huntsville, I welcome the move. IMO this is a good move because Campus 805 is a 'beer destination' and your business model adds variety to the campus. I would say good luck, but luck doesn't have much to do with hard work and tough decisions. Good luck anyway.

Luv ya. Jay

[dijkstra]

Hmmmm, let's see......not so great location in Madison with Hwy 72 traffic or move to basically the center of the metro population and grab Huntsville business and surrounding areas in an easily accessible location promoted as a craft beer campus.........doesn't seem like to bad of a move to me. Seriously though, for everyone in Madison on the I565 side of town, this new location is quicker and easier to access than driving across town and down 72. This is only a negative move to people on the 72 side and north of Madison.

[bmrisko]

Originally Posted by dijkstra

Hmmmm, let's see......not so great location in Madison with Hwy 72 traffic or move to basically the center of the metro population and grab Huntsville business and surrounding areas in an easily accessible location promoted as a craft beer campus.........doesn't seem like to bad of a move to me. Seriously though, for everyone in Madison on the I565 side of town, this new location is quicker and easier to access than driving across town and down 72. This is only a negative move to people on the 72 side and north of Madison.

I live on CLR and could literally walk to S&S or Fresh Spirits, but I usually bypassed them to go to WYWB. As a small business owner myself, I can understand their decision to move and I appreciate Damon's response and wish them the best of luck. With that being said, it will most definitely make WYWB more of a destination place now than a quick stop-in as I was always traversing 72. The only thing I won't miss is trying to turn west on 72, especially in the afternoons. However, I'm sure what customers they lose, they will quickly pick up at their new location.

[Tennhioland]

I think I only sat down to drink a beer or two at WYWB once. Not sure why, it was a nice place to drink a beer, but I usually just stopped in for beer to go. I would think the new location will do better there. Having a patio and a good spot for live music will be nice. Also, if (when) the Campus 805 area becomes an entertainment district, I assume you'll be able to take beer to go in a cup from WYWB during festivals and events in the park. Also a good thing.

Living in Madison, I probably won't go quite as much, but it'll still be more convenient for me then some of the other large bottle shops. So I'll definitely swing by occasionally for beer to go and will look forward to enjoying some beers on site as well. Really hoping live music becomes a big part of Campus 805.