42 North Brewing readies Buffalo taproom, plots Finger Lakes expansion with Skaneateles spot
42 North Brewing readies Buffalo taproom, plots Finger Lakes expansion with Skaneateles spot
East Aurora-based brewery plans to open two more taprooms in the coming months, expanding its upstate reach.
Talk to any brewery owner and you’ll get the sense of how weird and tenuous it all is right now.
For most, growth has stalled, competition has increased, consolidations have grown, and closures have quickened. Translation: It’s tougher than ever to compete. And it’s increasingly difficult to predict what might happen next.
But that’s what makes the best business owners the best business owners. They’re prepared for whatever might come next. John Cimperman, owner/founder of East Aurora-based 42 North Brewing Co., certainly belongs in that category.
Cimperman and 42N are taking matters into their own hands with the addition of two taprooms this year. First, 42N will open a downtown Buffalo taproom this month (hopefully as early as March 17, pending licensing). And then, as part of a larger Finger Lakes development, 42N is currently in the planning process for a third location in Skaneateles, Onondaga County.
Each of these locations will be licensed under the brewery’s farm brewery license, meaning 42N will be able to serve other New York state wines, spirits, and beers under the branch office provision of the license.
“We’re busy. We’re doing well. We’re focused on our strategy of being the tortoise and not the hare,” Cimperman said. We’re just focused on moving our brand forward. So far the market has responded. I’m knocking on wood, my friend.”
So far in 2024, the brewery is “off to a solid start,” he added. Cimperman said two factors are really helping right now: 1. Sales manager Dave Giczkowski, an industry veteran, has been on the job for nine months now and been making connections with accounts; 2. 42N is seeing strong growth, a rebound really, in on-premise accounts. (Year to year, 42N is up 20 percent with restaurants and bars.)
“That’s a good sign for all of us,” Cimperman said. “It’s an interesting time, right. It’s tough out there. A lot of folks survived the pandemic, in some cases relied on some PPP dollars to keep going. But now things are settled back into the new normal, it’s a pretty tough and lean capital-intensive business.”
Main Street, Buffalo
Cimperman said 42N wasn’t looking for a second location when this downtown Buffalo opportunity presented itself. The brewery, after all, maintains an entire complex in the village of Eat Aurora, which includes a brewery, taproom, restaurant partner, separate barrel-aging facility, and an on-site, four-room Airbnb.
“This location fell into our laps. A good friend of mine is the owner of the building and over a couple of beers he shared his vision for the space with me. The building was built in 1895,” Cimperman shared. “It’s the former home of Wurlitzer Piano company. It is in the heart of downtown Buffalo, literally next door to Shea’s (Performing Arts Center) and across the street from the Town Ballroom (live music venue). We just believe, as a brand, being surrounded by theater and live music, it’s where our customers traditionally go when they’re not at the brewery.”
The 3,000-square-foot Main Street space, located in the heart of Buffalo’s Theater District, has a much different feel than the original East Aurora location. It’s at 674 Main St. in the historic Wurlitzer Flats building. Cimperman said this taproom has a much more Art Deco feel.
“The space just made sense,” Cimperman said. “And if it weren’t for this building in this neighborhood, we would not be this far down the road.”
It’ll have table seating for 90 people and much more room for a standing-room crowd. Like in East Aurora, 42N is partnering with Bridget and Pat Ryan to operate the full kitchen. But it will have a different focus than Fat Bob’s Smokehouse. Cimperman said the new kitchen will be branded as Queen City Bistro, which will have small plates and more shareable items.
“That partnership was gone exceptionally well (in East Aurora,” Cimperman said. “The best thing about Covid was finding them.”
Skaneateles development
42 North is expanding its footprint along the 42nd parallel (really just expanding eastward from its original home) with a partnership with Syracuse-based Woodbine Hospitality Group, Cimperman said. Woodbine already operates the Hotel Skyler in Syracuse, the Tailwater Lodge complex in Oswego County and will soon add to its portfolio with the forthcoming Skaneateles Lodge.
42N will be a piece of that Skaneateles development, Cimperman said. He’s hopeful it’ll be ready by late summer.
“We found each other through a passion for craft beer,” Cimperman said. “And they’re also outdoors people. They ski, they fly fish, they mountain bike. So when they visited us, they were like, ‘You guys are kinda like us. You want to come be part of our development in Skaneateles?’ Absolutely.”
The development includes a 20-room boutique hotel, a fine-dining restaurant, an arcade (think virtual golf), and a 1,500-square-foot brewery taproom, Cimperman said. He’ll be in Skaneateles all next week to meet with designers for this new build.
As the beer industry becomes increasingly difficult to predict and even harder to compete as consumer tastes shift, you’ve got to be nimble and forward-thinking.
“The biggest opportunity is for us to put a flag in the ground and extend our brand,” Cimperman said. “I’ll speak to Rochester and Syracuse, having a location in Skaneateles and having people be able to come in there and experience our brand, drink our beer, when they go to Wegmans or Tops or another restaurant or bar, they’re gonna know our beer.”
Listening to Cimperman, it’s hard not to get excited. His energy is infectious, even after being open for nine years.
“I always get asked, ‘John, if you were to do it all over again, would you? What would you change.’ I respond, ‘Absolutely, we’d do it all over again.’ And we’re still having fun doing it. It’s part of the reason why new projects like the ones we have in the pipeline keep us energized. We’re still bullish on the craft beer industry.”