Chris Meyers, one of the original owners of Crane Brewing, was disheartened to learn that the Raytown brewery had closed.
For the past few weeks, the lights have been off and doors have been locked at the 6515 Railroad St. space.
Now Meyers has received word that current owner Steve Ismert has resigned, but he hasn’t been able to reach him for further information. Michael Crane — the other founder — owns the building, and Meyers stayed on as a silent partner after they sold the business in 2023.
When Meyers visited the brewery this past weekend, he saw a largely empty space, confirming to him that the most recent owners aren’t planning on reopening.
“They’ve cleared a lot of stuff out,” Meyers said. “If it reopens, it’ll be under new owners.”
Meyers said Michael Crane is hoping he can sell the business to owners who would reopen it as Crane, if he can find an interested buyer. Michael Crane declined to comment on the situation, and Ismert could not be immediately reached for comment Monday.
Meyers said that, at the time they sold the business in 2023, he and Crane had initially planned to bring on new investors to replace ones who were ready to retire. But the latest investment group ended up buying a majority of the business.
That’s when Meyers and Crane decided to step back, mostly to let the new owners take the reins.
“I had faith in the new owners, but I knew they were gonna kinda run things differently than the way we did,” Meyers said. “That was the one silver lining, that someone else was gonna keep it open.”
Meyers hopes someone else will take over the spot. It’s a spacious warehouse-like building off Rock Island Trail. He knows it’s a special place for many, as it was for him.
“I got to meet a lot of amazing people. I got to work with a ton of nonprofits,” he said. “It was definitely a good chapter in my life.”
Several breweries have closed in the metro in the past several months. Pathlight, Double Shift, The Big Rip Brewing, and Grains and Taps downtown Lee’s Summit location have all shuttered in the past year. (Grains and Taps still has a spot at 310 SW Blue Parkway.)
While Meyers doesn’t have the full picture on what led to Crane Brewing’s closure, he knows it’s not an easy time for brewery operators.
For one, he thinks more people prefer staying in to going out — perhaps a permanent side effect of COVID. He’s also seen an uptick in sober lifestyles. Fewer people are wanting to go out and drink, and others are turning to marijuana for their fix.
Meyers thinks breweries will need to learn how to pivot.
“I think you’ve got to be really creative as a brewery on what you’re offering,” he said. “More experiences besides just beer. I think a kitchen and having food there as well is something that will determine which brewery someone’s gonna visit on a given night.”
Michael Crane began homebrewing in 2009, thanks to a $15 kit he picked up at Target. In 2014, he connected with Meyers and began to pursue a permanent location, and they started officially distributing their beers in late 2015.
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