A brewery-restaurant in downtown Wilmington has announced opening plans.
Stitch House Brewery is slated to open at the site of a former linen store on the 800 block of North Market Street in downtown Wilmington. No firm date has been announced.
Stitch House will have half the menu and its beers on March 10th for the Wilmington St. Patrick’s Day parade.
The brewery-restaurant will close the following day but will open from 4-8 p.m. for a private event. Stitch House plans to be fully open March 12th.
The brewery will be the first to operate in Wilmington in several decades. The operation will also have a restaurant.
The brewery and brewpub are seen as a game-changer in downtown, due to the ability of such enterprises to draw customers from a wide area.
The 800 block on Market location is also seen as critical in turnaround efforts for the lengthy street.
The street has seen a revival of the LOMA area to the south. However, a turnaround of the upper blocks has proven to be more difficult.
Buccini/Pollin Group has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the area. The latest development is the purchase of the DuPont Building and hotel at the upper end of the street.
Also under construction is a parking-apartment and retail complex just off Market Street. Another project brought to buildings that include the former WSFS headquarters.
Stitch House is part of a trend toward hyperlocal breweries that brew and sell beer to serve small geographic areas.
Also in the works, as a production brewery is Wilmington Brew Works on Miller Road.
Pioneers were Iron Hill, which now has a dozen or so breweries in the region and Stewart’s, which has operated in the Bear area for a couple of decades.
The hyperlocals have also put pressure on some craft brewers that have seen slowing after adding capacity at new or existing sites.
In Glasgow, Midnight Oil recently opened a brewery in the Pencader business complex.
New Castle County has also loosened restrictions that would allow microbreweries to operate in retail areas without requirements for full-fledged restaurants.
