![]() The new year, however, will bring new opportunities. The cuts include jobs tied to the upcoming closure of its Healdsburg brewpub, which will shut down on Nov. 22 after Norgrove could not work out any extension with the landlord. The company, which employs 145 people, will shed 35 workers this year. Sales, too, have slumped, on track to fall 2.5% from the previous year. Production dropped to 55,000 barrels this year, down from 68,000 at its peak. The brewery has seen its distribution network shrink in recent years, from 27 states at its peak to 22 states today. Norgrove, as chief executive officer for the brewery they founded in 1994 right off the Healdsburg Plaza. “I took my lumps,” said the 50-year-old Norgrove, who took over earlier this year from his father, Richard R. Norgrove, who co-founded the brewery with his father and served as brewmaster for many years, was blunt on his assessment of 2019. The obstacles were varied, but included the rising cost of operating a restaurant in a high-end Wine Country town a consolidated beer distribution network that makes retail placement in stores much tougher and changing tastes among younger consumers who have little loyalty to brands, even to the brewery that has produced one of the legendary beers ever to come out of Sonoma County: Racer 5. The last year has been rough on the Cloverdale company and many other craft breweries, as well. ![]() The new year can’t come quickly enough for the venerable brewer, which helped define Sonoma County as a craft beer capital. ![]()
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