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Anchor Brewing Co., the self-proclaimed first craft brewery in the U.S., said it will close its doors after 127 years in business.
Market Pulse: San Francisco–based craft-beer pioneer Anchor Brewing is closing down after 127 years: report
Anchor, whose beer lineup includes Anchor Steam, Old Foghorn and West Coast IPA, has decided to begin the assignment for the benefit of creditors, or ABC, process, which is a form of bankruptcy. Sapporo Holdings Ltd.
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which bought San Francisco–based Anchor in 2017, said Wednesday that it had approved the ABC.
The ABC comes after Anchor was “significantly affected” by the COVID-19 pandemic, with “particularly prolonged” impact in the San Francisco area leading to a significant decrease in sales.
“Over the past several years, we implemented a variety of measures to improve the business, such as releasing new products, product renewals, and making brand investments. However, Anchor’s business performance continued to be sluggish,” the company said in a notice provided by Sapporo. “Since it would be difficult to improve profitability in the medium to long term, Anchor decided to commence the ABC.”
Anchor did not immediately respond to a MarketWatch request for comment.
The filing of Anchor’s certificate of cancellation is scheduled for July 2024.
Anchor, which was incorporated in March 1896, recorded losses of $9 million on sales of $10 million in 2022, after losses of $9 million on sales of $12 million in 2021 and losses of $12 million on sales of $12 million in 2020.
Net assets dropped to $3 million in 2022 from $13 million in 2021 and $35 million in 2020.
Sapporo said in its notice that it will “promptly dispose of businesses that we have classified as a business to be disposed of.”
The Japan-based brewer said it expects to record 2023 losses from Anchor’s ABC of 6 billion yen, or about $42.9 million.
Sapporo said for the U.S., which it views as a growth driver, it will focus on its Sapporo Premium Beer in collaboration with Stone Brewing Co., which Sapporo acquired in August 2022.
Anchor Brewing, based in San Francisco’s largely residential Potrero Hill neighborhood, was rescued from financial failure in 1965 by Frederick Louis Maytag III, of the laundry-appliance and blue-cheese Maytags, and its Anchor Steam went on to become arguably the most influential beer at the outset of the U.S.’s craft-beer boom.
