After about two and a half years in business, Equity Brewing Company announced it will be scaling back its hours before closing permanently when its lease ends in five months.
Equity Brewing Company announced its closure in a Facebook post Sunday, citing financial struggles and difficulties staying afloat as a small business.
“After many months of trying to stay afloat, we have sadly come to the difficult conclusion that it just isn’t possible for us to continue in our current form,” the Facebook post read. “Given we have five months remaining on our lease, we will scale back our opening hours once again so that we can continue to generate some revenue in order to pay our bills while also reducing our cost of operations.”
The Facebook post read that the business had shared with email subscribers months of its difficulties and would be changing its hours of operations to reduce expenses.
Equity Brewing Company will be open from 4-9 p.m. Thursday, 4-10 p.m. Friday and 2-10 p.m. Saturday, serving beer and food with a limited menu. The business will be available for private parties until its lease is up in July when Equity will close its doors in Norman.
Suzette Grillot, a professor and former dean of the David L. Boren College of International Studies, and her daughter, Hannah Grillot, opened Equity Brewing Company in July 2021. The mother-daughter duo created the brewery hoping to make the brewing industry more inclusive.
The initial goals of the company were to promote Grillot’s activism and use the space to fill gender gaps in the male-dominated food and drink industry.
Equity Brewing Company is the fourth locally-owned business in Norman to announce its closure this year.
After 40 years, Penny Hill Deli on Lindsey Street closed in January citing a lack of profitability. 405 Burger Bar off of West Main Street announced its closure at the end of January after three years.
Nashbird, an Oklahoma-based chicken chain, closed three of its four locations, including the one in Norman, in January.
“We have loved being part of your vibrant community for the last two and a half years and we are sad that this part of our brewery’s journey is coming to an end,” Equity Brewing Company wrote in its Facebook post. “There are a lot of decisions that still need to be made and a few possibilities that are up in the air, so keep following along with us on social media for further details and announcements.
"We are so grateful to all of you for helping Equity Brewing Company become the warm and welcoming space it is today. We look forward to seeing you over the next few months as we celebrate the time we have spent together throughout this journey.”
This story was edited by Peggy Dodd. This story was copy edited by Sophie Hemker and Avery Avery.
