Strategic Expansion by Finding Undersaturated Markets

Fifty West Brewing Company has a new stop on the route, slated to open late 2019 or early 2020 in Chillicothe, Ohio. 

The Cincinnati brewery that opened in 2012 operates under the premise of expanding along the U.S. Route 50 highway running from California to Maryland.

Chillicothe is “far enough away that it’s not Cincinnati,” said Managing Partner Bobby Slattery. “But what we saw was it kind of reminded us of Cincinnati when we started.”

No brewery currently exists in Chillicothe, and so popular demand led Fifty West there.

After a learning curve with the current Fifty West location, Vice President of Operations, Max Fram, believes the new spot will feel even more like Fifty West than the original Cincinnati-area brewery.

“It’s be the epitome of what the brand is and has become and has evolved to,” he said.

Going from the greater Cincinnati area to downtown Chillicothe means the new brewpub facilities will be different. They can’t exactly build volleyball courts in a downtown space like they have at the original location, but the brewery is still using what’s available to have the same feel.

“We could’ve put that facility in there without any brewing equipment, but that’s not real,” Slattery said. “That’s just taking our beer we’re making where we are and putting it in a different space, … there’s going to be experimentation within their space … maybe eight to 10 taps coming from [Cincinnati] and then their specialty stuff coming from that space.”

Slattery said he’s excited to make an impact on a community that doesn’t already have a brewery. The goal isn’t to expand indefinitely, but to slowly establish a brand in each community Fifty West comes to.

Executive Editor Jon Sicotte contributed to this story.

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