PIKE SELLS IN AND MOVES UP
Pike Brewing Company expands ownership to key employees and prepares to expand brewery.
Seattle, WA – October 16, 2015:
A letter from Charles and Rose Ann Finkel, Founders and Owners of The Pike Brewing Company:
Today, on the eve of our 26th anniversary, we’re excited to announce that we’re ensuring that Pike Brewing remains an independent and local company by expanding ownership to three key employees plus expanding our footprint right here in Seattle.
We are proud to announce that we’ve expanded ownership of The Pike Brewing Company to include three key and long term employees. Each individual has helped us build the company. They are Drew Gillespie, Vice President Operations; Patti Baker, Vice President Controller; and Gary Marx, Executive Chef. Collectively they have been at Pike for 45 years and we have long considered them as family in this family owned brewery. Each one has taken on key projects and responsibilities, showing the same commitment to Pike as we do. By formalizing them as owners alongside us we are ensuring that Pike Brewing remains independent and continues to grow organically.
Speaking of organic growth, we are also happy to announce that we are expanding our footprint and brewing capacity by moving up. We will occupy an additional 5,500 square feet space directly above The Pike Pub on the atrium level with direct access from First Avenue and The Pike Place Market Atrium. The entire space will be remodeled in the Pike style with antique breweriana, an extension of Pike’s Micro Brewery Museum.
If we could update Germany’s Reinheitsgebot, beer purity law, for these times we’d add independence as a fifth ingredient, right alongside malt, water, hops and yeast. At Pike Brewing, our management team decides what to brew based on quality, taste and sustainability, not dictated from outside sources! When we founded the brewery in 1989 we dared to dream that our creativity and investment would establish a brewing company that would endure in perpetuity. Our role models were the storied European breweries that we represented as sole U.S. agents. Now, 26 years later, that dream has taken another step towards becoming a reality.
When we began our craft beer journey in 1978, the whole of America had only two craft breweries. Currently there are almost 4,000! No matter the landscape, in almost 40 years in beer, we have never been so excited about our company’s momentum and growth potential. We love our work at Pike Brewing, our new partners: Drew, Patti and Gary; and our team of dedicated brewers, bottlers, warehouse people, sales and marketing professionals, cooks, managers, servers and front-of-the-house staff! We are ecstatic about spending the remainder of our careers as a part of this team.
Cheers,
Charles and Rose Ann Finkel
