Displaying items tagged: Hopcat

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.

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. 

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

KALAMAZOO — With a dearth of major buildings left to renovate in the downtown Kalamazoo area, developers say new construction will soon be their only option going forward. 

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.