World of Beer, the 3,000-square-foot pantheon to craft beer anchoring the east end of Congress Street downtown, is set to close.
No date has been announced, but the closing is imminent, said Terry Haley, World of Beer’s corporate vice president of marketing.
Two other World of Beer locations in Arizona — all operated by the same franchisees — also will close, Haley said. All have been open since late 2013; the Tucson store opened days before Halloween of that year.
An official with the Arizona franchise group who would not give his name said the owners are in talks with another beer-centric concept operator to take over the store at 350 E. Congress St. and their stores in Tempe and Gilbert. He said they anticipate that the closing will coincide with the opening of the new brand.
He would not release any details, saying negotiations are ongoing.
He also would not discuss his group’s contract with World of Beer because he and his partners are in legal talks with the Florida-based company. Haley, speaking from the company’s headquarters in Tampa, Florida, said the Arizona closures are due in large part to the evolution of the 9-year-old company’s mission.
“The World of Beer concept has evolved significantly. Over the last couple of years we’ve added in full kitchens with an elevated menu of tavern fare,” he said. “Those particular sites with the square footage couldn’t make the adjustments that we felt were in the best interest of the longterm future of the brand.”
The Arizona closures follow eight other World of Beer closings in the past year, several of them coming this summer, including three in Florida. Three stores closed in the month of July alone, including one in New Orleans and another in Albany, New York.
Haley said the closings were unrelated and a couple were for the same reasons that the Arizona stores are shuttering — the operators could not convert the stores into the more restaurant-oriented concept.
World of Beer has 75 locations around the country and one in Shanghai that opened this summer. Six new locations are set to open this month in the U.S., Haley said.
Employees of the Tucson World of Beer have been notified of the pending closure. The local franchise operator said he hopes those employees will continue working at the store under the new owners.
