The closing had nothing to do with San Francisco. Anchor was owned by Sapporo in Japan. It was not making enough money for Sapporo so they shut it down.
not according to what tonepoet just wrote above...while I agree with the Sapporo as being its death-nail, the SF current environment cannot be ignored. SF couldn't have helped the situation...
As Frono pointed out, the real problem started in Covid with the restaurant shutdowns, I had no idea Anchor's largest market was pubs/restaurants,
worldwide. And so trying to transition into typical liquor store retail was too little too late especially at the time. In the last year the big distillers have also noticed a shift in demand, beer's falling while distilled consumption is rising, and it's thought that at least part of the reason is the rising cost of beer as I originally mentioned.
Besides which SF's a lousy place to work right now, I always said it was about getting employees who're willing to do it, not that SF itself has any specifically "anti-business" policies. But let's face it, many of the city's social policies have created a nightmare for retailers simply trying to survive in a jungle, by killing the tourist industry. And certainly Anchor had a strong local market.
I don't blame Sapporo, they bought Anchor when craft breweries were coming on strong, but Covid killed the dining out industry.
They didn't rape it or part it out. They just want to liquidate and try something else. The projected timeline to return to profitability simply isn't good enough for 'em. It likely will be for somebody else.