Displaying items tagged: BarFly Ventures LLC

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for November 8, 2020.

GRAND RAPIDS — The operators of Max’s South Seas Hideaway — a downtown Grand Rapids tiki bar owned by former BarFly Ventures LLC President Mark Sellers III — have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

GRAND RAPIDS — BarFly Ventures LLC — the parent company of HopCat, Stella’s Lounge and Grand Rapids Brewing Co. — has sold its assets as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

For more than 45 years, Purple East has been a stalwart alternative lifestyle retailer in Grand Rapids, gaining a reputation for selling an assortment of clothing, glass pipes and smoking accessories.

LANSING — Michigan restaurants and bars are now able to expand alcohol sales as well as the area where patrons can consume drinks. 

Overly aggressive expansions, lease disputes and sagging interest in craft beer-based casual restaurants were contributing factors to BarFly Ventures LLC’s bankruptcy filing this month before business was decimated by COVID-19, court records show.

The MiBiz Growth Report for June 7, 2020.

GRAND RAPIDS — BarFly Ventures LLC, the parent company of the HopCat chain of beer bars, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this morning in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan. 

GRAND RAPIDS — BarFly Ventures LLC, the parent company that operates the HopCat craft beer bar chain, has decided to discontinue brewing operations at the downtown HopCat location, MiBiz has learned. 

The Waldron Public House, owned and operated by BarFly Ventures LLC, will be transformed into a three-story tiki bar and restaurant this summer.

GRAND RAPIDS — The company that owns and operates the HopCat craft beer bar chain has secured another $6 million in capital it will use to open three to four more locations in 2019 and 2020, MiBiz has learned. In confirming BarFly Ventures LLC’s latest round of fundraising, founder and owner Mark Sellers told MiBiz approximately $5 million of the funding came from one new investor while $1 million came from Sellers himself. The company is still in the process of raising another $1 million from existing investors to reach its $7 million goal.

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for Sept. 17, 2018.

GRAND RAPIDS — HopCat’s 17th location overall — and its second in Grand Rapids — comes as an “experiment” of sorts for the growing chain of craft beer-focused restaurants.

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for April 30, 2018.

• M&A: New York City-based Standard Media Group LLC, a new investor-backed media company, has entered into a definitive agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. of Hunt Valley, Md. to acquire Grand Rapids-based Fox 17 WXMI and eight other stations around the country. The $441.7 million cash deal would create a new media company affiliated with Standard General LP, an SEC-registered investment adviser that manages capital for public and private pension plans, endowments, foundations, and high net worth individuals. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in conjunction with the Sinclair-Tribune transaction. As MiBiz previously reported, Sinclair is trying to appease government regulators in a bid to finalize its $3.9 billion acquisition of Chicago-based Tribune Media Co., which currently owns Fox 17. 

BarFly Ventures LLC continues to grow its brand of HopCat craft-beer-focused bars.

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for April 2, 2018.

• M&A: A subsidiary of Universal Forest Products Inc. (Nasdaq: UFPI) plans to acquire “substantially all” of the operating assets of Marietta, Ga.-based North American Container Corp., a producer of packaging products, according to a statement. The deal should close by June 1. Terms of the deal were undisclosed. The acquisition will add steel, corrugated and hardwood packaging to Universal’s lineup of industrial products. North American Container, founded in 1967, operates nine manufacturing facilities in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin and recorded 2017 sales of about $71 million. Universal Forest Products in February reported that it generated $3.9 billion in net sales with net earnings of $119.5 million for 2017.

GRAND RAPIDS –– BarFly Ventures LLC, the Grand Rapids-based parent company of the HopCat chain of craft beer-focused restaurants, announced Monday that it plans a second location in the area.

The sibling owners of downtown Grand Rapids bar and music venue The Pyramid Scheme have bought out a long-time partner and are now the sole owners of not only the business, but also the affiliated real estate.

Grand Rapids may be known colloquially as Beer City, but visitors should plan to avoid walking between hip bars and eateries with a pint of local IPA, at least for the foreseeable future.

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for Jan. 23, 2017.

• M&A: Bryan Betten and Chris Baker, two veteran West Michigan dealership executives, have acquired Grand Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Lowell from former owner Harvey Koning. Betten-Baker is in the process of acquiring the remaining Grand Auto Family Services Inc. dealerships owned by Koning, which include facilities in Grandville, Allegan and Lowell, said Pete Ricards, division director at Betten-Baker. The company also is acquiring a Big Rapids-based GMC dealership from Gary Trimarco Automotive group, but is waiting on manufacturer approval from General Motors to complete both deals. 

The expanding chain of HopCat craft beer bars will head oceanside later this year.

For Mark Sellers, the magic number of sorts is $300.

Buying or selling a business or putting together a major deal is not the time to get cheap.

GRAND RAPIDS — BarFly Ventures LLC, the parent company that operates the growing HopCat craft beer bar chain, has secured a new $5 million investment to further its expansion in the Midwest, MiBiz has learned. 

The Waldron Public House, one of the downtown area’s most recently opened watering holes, has closed to the general public.

The HopCat chain of craft beer bars continues its rapid expansion.

Grand Rapids-based Barfly Ventures LLC today confirmed reports from earlier this week that it would open a HopCat location in Chicago.

When developer Sam Cummings set out to redevelop a building at 25 Ionia St. SW in Grand Rapids nearly two decades ago, he needed to leverage the site’s historic designation to make the project economically feasible.

Bar and restaurant operator BarFly Ventures LLC of Grand Rapids has partnered with a contract brewery in Detroit to market and distribute HopCat-branded beer, MiBiz has learned.