Update: After hearing this morning from the new landlord, Schaylor Brewing Co. will close its Lebanon location Thursday, March 13. With staff moving on, and still facing a steep increase in rent, the taproom will end its run in Lebanon a couple days earlier than previously announced, co-owner Lucan Schmidt told LebTown in a text message Thursday morning. The location will not be open on Friday and Saturday as originally reported below.
Berks County-based Schaylor Brewing Company plans to close the doors of its Lebanon satellite location at the Lebanon Farmers Market on Saturday, March 15.
Last weekend, the taproom announced its last day in a Facebook post and said the closure was happening for various reasons. “It deeply saddens us because of the rich history at this location and awesome customers that have supported us,” they said in the post.
The restaurant and bar will be open this week Thursday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., before operations are expected to cease at the location, which opened in April 2023.
In a phone interview with LebTown, co-owner Lucan Schmidt said the lease for the taproom began March 1, 2023, and was up for renewal.
Financial data shared publicly ahead of the December 2024 auction for the market building indicated that Schaylor Brewing had been paying $4,000 per month, plus expenses, for the initial two-year term, with an option of a three-year extension at up to $5,000 per month.
Schmidt said he is still working to talk with the new landlord, Jared Mizrahi, who bought the 33,000-square-foot property at 35 S. 8th St., Lebanon, in a Dec. 30 auction for $1.35 million.
Schmidt said he’s loved the building, and loved the people he’s met at the Lebanon location, but the business had reached a point where it wasn’t economically feasible to continue the lease. The taproom’s five employees were notified in February that the location was expected to close, and were offered positions at Schaylor’s Shillington brewery.
While it’s still possible that a last-minute arrangement could be sorted, Schmidt described several factors that went into the decision to exit the lease in lieu of an opportunity to renegotiate and avoid being bound to an additional three-year term at a higher rent.
Utility costs at the location are high compared to the brewery’s production facility, Schmidt said, and discoverability of the third-floor taproom can be a challenge – an example Google Maps search by LebTown for Schaylor Brewing in Lebanon led to a door off Walton Street that’s only open during market hours.
Although the brewery found a loyal customer base in the city, the Lebanon location had a very large percentage of food and non-alcoholic sales in contrast to the Shillington brewery, which seats half the people but does four times the sales, Schmidt said. The food received top marks from the Lebanon Valley Food Critics and the location enjoyed an overall 4.7 rating on Google, but the business is deeply rooted in a love of craft beer.
Schmidt said the company is actively exploring partnerships with restaurateurs to jointly operate an establishment where someone else would be in charge of the kitchen, but with Schaylor’s suds at the bar. At present such a venture would be likely to get off the ground first in West Reading. Schmidt hasn’t closed the door on Lebanon yet – possibly with the same model – and hopes to connect with Mizrahi about the future of the space.
The restaurant and bar area on the third floor of the market began life in 2007 as Niko’s, which featured a fine dining menu and a cigar lounge. In 2015, the Foundry Craft Grillery opened in the location. The Foundry closed in early 2019, and the Red-Headed League opened that November.
Mizrahi told LebTown in January that he didn’t plan to make major changes to the historic property, such as knocking it down or converting it to apartments. He said his goals were to maximize the revenue stream, fill the empty spaces, and “raise the value to the tenants.”
Mizrahi did not respond to LebTown requests for comment on Schaylor’s announcement.
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