52° and Overcast
By Jim Fink
WBFO
Call it a post-Covid driven decision but brothers Tim and Mark Woodcock have retained Hunt Real Estate to find a buyer for the nearly 53,000-square-foot building at 638 Lake Street up for sale with a $2.2 million asking price.
And, with the listing just a few days old, Tim Woodcock says there has been some very preliminary interest.
The Woodcock brothers -Tim and Mark - opened their craft brewery in 2012 and seven years later opened a second location in the Wurlitzer Building along Niagara Falls Boulevard in North Tonawanda. The two locations bookend Niagara County.
While business in the Wurlitzer Building has been growing and strong, the Wilson location saw a drop in customer traffic, post-Covid.
This winter, the Wilson site closed in late January but will reopen on April 1, promised Tim Woodcock
The reason for the “For Sale” sign?
Tim Woodcock explains…
“Financially this year has been tough. All restaurants are suffering right now, the craft beer industry itself is definitely seeing a decline, and restaurants are suffering, and we want to concentrate on one or the other instead of making both of them suffer at this point,” Woodcock said. “So we said, let's go for the Wurlitzer, and we'll see what we can do with Wilson and keep it as viable as we can, as long as we can.”
Woodcock Bros. Produces approximately 13,000 barrels of their craft beers annually.
The decision to scale back the Wilson site to a seasonal operation falls in line with what is happening to craft brewers nationally.
The Boulder, Colorado-based Brewers Association reports that 399 craft breweries across the U.S. closed in 2024, marking the first time since 2005 that more breweries have closed than opened. Volume, nationally, is also down about two percent.
Woodcock said he and his brother are open to a number of options when it comes to the Wilson property. It was a tough decision, he concedes.
“It’s more bitter than sweet. I live a mile from the brewery, and we have a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in that building, so to give it up hurts, but to give it to someone who can make it better makes it sweet,” Woodcock said.
For now, Woodcock’s Niagara Falls Boulevard site is open and remains at full service for its entire operation while the Wilson location will re-open on April 1st.
