Saskatoon’s 9 Mile Legacy Brewing is closing its taproom

Saskatoon’s 9 Mile Legacy Brewing will be closing down its taproom.

“We're not going out of business,” CEO and co-founder Shawn Moen told CTV News.

Moen said they were looking at closing down their location on 20th Street, but continue to create great products.

“The spot on 20th opened up in 2017. And it was our flagship taproom and nano brewery,” Moen explained.

“We essentially stripped it down to the studs and built it right back out to a place that we were super, super proud of and had great memories.”

But the building hit capacity in 2018, he said, which prompted them to aim for an expansion. Then COVID-19 hit and delayed the work.

“We commissioned a larger facility, which is only three blocks away and is about 10,000 square feet.”

He said it soon became clear that having two locations was not the right choice.

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“Running two facilities just wasn't a reasonable path forward for us. So we kind of developed a strategy in early last year to build out our retail presence in the new place, which is what we'll do now.”

Moen said they tried to sell the building as a turnkey operation to keep it going for the community.

“What got in the way of getting a deal like that done was the interest rate situation and the economic situation that we're in right now. We ended up getting to our decision last week that we can't wait for the perfect solution anymore.”

The last day for the location will be June 4, the Facebook post said.

“We want to send the facility off in the right way. So we'll have some private parties with our stakeholders in the weeks to follow, but it's gonna be bittersweet for a lot of people,” Moen said.

“I think that it feels that building really occupied a community hub role and, it wasn't an easy decision to move on. The reality was that our business is growing in different ways and it's really an evolution moment.”

Moen said they were still focused on making great products.

“We'll still make the kegs and cans of beer that people love. We'll still work with our great wholesale partners in both Regina and Saskatoon. People will eventually be able to buy a beer directly from the brewery again, hopefully, sooner than we think.”

However, he did say it was not an easy decision.

“It was a really challenging decision. It was sad, but we're also really excited about the future too.”

He said the company’s legacy was inspiration for other Saskatchewan businesses.

“We started extremely small and we bootstrapped this thing up to the point where we are a brand that is recognized internationally. There was a there's a point in time a few weeks ago when we led the technology section in Bloomberg as a result of a project we did with ChatGPT. I think that if you're an entrepreneur, your opportunities are limitless. You just have to get in and do it and work hard and be strategic.”

Moen said they’ll look back fondly at what they built.

“We've enjoyed every moment. We treasure the Riversdale community and we're looking forward to reimagining a brewery retail experience in the near future.”