Following the news of City Steam Brewery in Hartford soon closing its doors, NBC Connecticut checked in Friday on the state of downtown businesses.
When you walk around downtown, there are many empty storefronts and well-known restaurants and bars that are no longer, but there are also new businesses opening and finding success.
Urban Lodge Brewing Company expanded from its Manchester location into downtown Hartford in October, opening its doors on Pratt Street.
General manager Kylie Caffrey said their success there has exceeded expectations.
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“Everything that we expected, it was more,” Caffrey said. “Pratt Street’s cool. It’s up and coming, so, it’s been great.”
But they were shocked to hear fellow brewers City Steam Brewery on Main Street will close its doors at the end of the month, after decades in business. A burst pipe and $500,000 in renovations was something the owner said they couldn’t bounce back from.
“We were sad just cause we are a brewery that opened in Hartford and we were excited to kind of like maybe bring that tradition and have more breweries open up in Hartford,” Caffrey added. “It was kind of a shock to all of us, especially how sudden it was.”
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Scott Dolch, president and CEO of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, said he was saddened by the news.
“It is a sad day when things like that happen. I think it’s a reality check for a lot of people to know that, hey, this is still a very difficult industry, we’re still not out of COVID from a recovery side,” Dolch said.
Consumers we spoke to Friday said they prefer downtown Hartford shopping and dining to other communities.
“I actually like Pratt Street I think a little bit more than West Hartford Center, because it’s more small businesses, and I really like supporting small businesses,” said Ciara Jarmain, of Hartford.
Dolch said the downtown economy is still bouncing back from COVID, with many workers still remote, or working hybrid and only spending time in the city a few days a week.
“The ones that are really struggling the most are the independent restaurants, which is what makes up Connecticut, what makes up Hartford,” Dolch said. “Everyone is [struggling] at home with inflation. Understand for restaurants it’s almost exasperated even more because of the cost of food, the cost of labor. The last thing they want to do is increase their menu prices on their customers but they’re having to juggle that right now to stay in business.”
He said he continues to meet with city and state leaders on ways to boost business downtown, like getting more events at the XL Center and the convention center and give tax breaks to business owners. He said more than anything they need more foot traffic.
“There’s a lot of really good stories that are happening, and I hope people are listening and coming down to support these businesses cause they’re putting in a huge investment and they need foot traffic, they need people to want to come in and support them.”
