WeвЂ™re not really, at this point, considering our strategy to go more suburban. ThereвЂ™s not a whole lot left with our strategy. вЂњWe like to be in downtown areas,вЂќ he said. He said BarFly could consider other Michigan cities without colleges, such as Traverse City, or smaller college towns such as Mount Pleasant, but real estate fitting its ideal specifications is just about tapped out in Michigan.

Craft brewers are our friends and partners.вЂќДЄs HopCat continues to look outside of Michigan for new locations, expansions in Michigan may come to an end, once Kalamazoo opens later this year, Sellers said. вЂњWe donвЂ™t support the вЂbig three.вЂ™ They are actively sabotaging and disrupting the industry, and we donвЂ™t want to play a role in that. We donвЂ™t serve any itвЂ™s a Bud product,вЂќ Sellers said. вЂњWe dropped Goose Island the day they were acquired. Goose Island still produces beers many craft beer fans laud, including Bourbon County Brand Stout and a line of wild fermented beers, but the breweryвЂ™s ownership change means itвЂ™s off limits for HopCat. beers among its 50 taps dedicated to Illinois brewers.ДЇounded in 1988, Goose Island is considered a pioneer brewer in the craft beer industry, but it was acquired by AB InBev in 2011 - and it is against BarFlyвЂ™s corporate policy to serve вЂњBud, Miller, CoorsвЂќ products. When the Chicago Tribune reported on the new Chicago location, the headline announced HopCat would not serve ChicagoвЂ™s Goose Island Beer Co. Lincoln Park is very underserved, and within 10 blocks in any direction thereвЂ™s nothing.вЂќ вЂњAs long as weвЂ™re the only player in a small market they donвЂ™t have room for many. вЂњThere is definitely something to be said for being a big fish in a small pond,вЂќ Sellers said. It helps that thereвЂ™s a population the size of Grand Rapids within just 10 blocks of the new HopCat, he said. Sellers is familiar with Chicago, having lived and worked there during his first career in the investment world, prior to selling his hedge fund in 2008. Sellers acknowledged the Windy City is a beverage hub, adding Detroit also has an excellent assortment of beer bars, but the company found a location in Lincoln Park that is underserved. HopCat has stuck to mostly urban locations in midsize Midwest college cities, and while Detroit and Indianapolis offer bigger populations, Chicago is a whole new animal.Д¬hicago has been near the top of beer, cider, spirit and wine trends for years and is now experiencing a surge in top-quality breweries, as well. In addition to the original Grand Rapids location, there are HopCats in East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Indianapolis and Madison, Wisconsin.

Sellers said there likely will be another location announced this year. Last month, HopCatвЂ™s parent company, BarFly Ventures, announced the chainвЂ™s expansion into Chicago, roughly a week after the announcement of a HopCat coming to Kalamazoo.ДЇollowing an investment of $30 million from a Texas-based private equity firm, BarFly owner and HopCat founder Mark Sellers said the company would open five HopCats a year for the next six years in college towns across the Midwest.Д¬hicago and Kalamazoo join Louisville as new locations announced as set to open this year, along with a Lincoln, Nebraska, location that opened last month. Eight years in, and HopCat has had a lot of success as a вЂњbig fish in a small pond,вЂќ but the beer-bar chain now is entering big-city territory.

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