Business Community

Locust Cider closing four tap rooms, but keeping Gig Harbor location open

It’s a tough time to be in the booze biz.

Another example came earlier this month, when Gig Harbor-based Locust Cider announced the closure of four of its six tap rooms. The Gig Harbor location at 3207 57th St. Ct., adjacent to the Inn at Gig Harbor, will remain open. 

Locust’s location in Seattle’s Pike Alley closed in early December. Its Woodinville tap room closed Dec. 28, with the Market Place  (Seattle) and Spokane locations to follow this week. Locust hopes to keep a location in Fort Collins, Colo., open if it can find a new partner to manage it.

The Locust announcement came soon after Gig Harbor-based Heritage Distilling announced it was closing tasting rooms in Oregon and Washington, including its flagship at the corner of Harborview Drive and Pioneer Way.

Elsewhere in the region, beverage makers like Seattle’s Pike Brewing and Oregon’s Rogue Brewery are also pulling back. 

Jason Spears in the revamped arcade and dining area at Locust Cider in Gig Harbor. The tap room next to the Inn at Gig Harbor will remain open as Locust closes other locations in Washington state. Photo by Vince Dice

Long COVID

Industry trends have a lot to do with many of those closures. Locust founder Jason Spears said changing drinking habits are a factor in his company’s moves, but also cited the long hangover from COVID. 

Even five years after the peak of the pandemic, businesses are still struggling with its aftermath. 

Inflation rose during and after the peak COVID years. Now, Trump-era tariffs are adding to the cost of doing business. 

At its peak, Locust operated 16 taprooms, touted as the most of any cidery in the U.S. Almost all of them opened in 2019 or 2020, which turned out to be awful timing.

Taxes, labor costs

With those increased costs, Spears said, “the right price for a pint of cider would probably be like $16. We can’t charge that, obviously.”

Property taxes, paid through higher rents at properties Locust leases, also went up. So did labor costs, driven by higher minimum wages.

“I’ve always wanted to be a premium employer and pay people above market,” Spears said. “We were at one point, then minimum wage went up and all of a sudden we weren’t.”

“These things happen,” Spears added. “It’s not bad that wages are going up, it’s just a timing problem. It’ll all balance out. I’ve seen lots of cycles of that.”

Hopping into the cider business

He’s seen lots of cycles because he’s operated businesses for many years. 

Originally from Texas, Spears lived in New York and Colorado before moving to the Northwest 15 years ago.

In Colorado, he operated a coffeehouse and music venue and worked as a concert promoter.

Locust’s origin story started when Spears developed an allergy to hops. Drinking beer became uncomfortable.

A friend introduced him to gluten-free cider.

“I tried it, liked it and started seeking it out. Found it was hard to find,” Spears said. “I started making it at home and it became a business.”

He and wife Rebecca Spears founded Locust in Woodinville in 2015. They moved to Gig Harbor in 2021, after Heritage Distilling outgrew the space adjacent to Gig Harbor Inn.

Jason Spears in 2021, as he and wife Rebecca prepared to open the Locust Cider taproom in Gig Harbor. Charlee Glock-Jackson / Gig Harbor Now

Consumer trends

That brisk growth was followed immediately by an abrupt change in consumer habits.

According to a Gallup Poll, just 54% of U.S. adults say they drink alcohol. That’s the lowest rate in the 90 years Gallup has monitored alcohol consumption. The percentage of people who report drinking alcohol has declined every year since 2022, Gallup says.

That’s probably good for their personal health, but it’s not great for the health of businesses that produce alcohol.

“There is some truth to people drinking less, for sure,” Spears said. “All those things combined, it’s a little harder to make the math work. And the math has to work, money doesn’t grow on trees. It’s more of a pragmatic decision we had to make.”

Locust plans to refocus on the wholesale market, selling its cider through groceries, restaurants and pubs — along with the Gig Harbor location, which is relatively close to the Spears’ home.

Gig Harbor location

The Gig Harbor Locust has undergone some big changes recently. After years in which the tap room had just a couple of indoor tables and some weather-dependent outside space, it has expanded into a former production area downstairs from the entrance.

Most larger-scale production moved to apple-growing central Washington. Locust still makes small and trial blends in Gig Harbor.

The larger space includes an arcade with a heavy focus on pinball, as well as a stage for musical performances. Locust now sells pizza and draws a solid crowd of regulars, visitors who walk over from the hotel and customers attending events in the arcade. 

“I’m really trying to get the word out,” Spears said. “What I want people to know is that we have a space with great food and games. I’m trying really hard to make this available to the community and groups.” 

King Kong, Godzilla, and Deadpool are just a few of the pinball machines available to play at the new HarborCade at Locust Cider. Photo by Marsha Hart