By Spencer Hall
Since its launch in December 2013, Three Ranges Brewing has been a favourite gathering spot for Valemount locals and tourists alike, but nearly 11 years and several operational challenges later, owners Rundi Anderson and Michael Lewis have decided to put their beloved taproom up for sale.
Lewis says he and Anderson chose to list the brewery after several years of financial hardships, stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, last winter’s lack of snow, and this summer’s highway closures due to the Jasper wildfire. To add to their financial pressure, Anderson and Lewis have also been trying to upgrade the brewery by adding additional equipment and expanded storage space for the past few years.
“We’ve had just a few stumbling blocks along the way that triggered certain changes and expanded our distribution more than we kind of really ever envisioned it,” Lewis told The Goat.
Brewery expansion roadblocks
Anderson said many factors went into the pair’s decision to list the brewery for sale, including burnout, financial pressures, and multiple delays to the brewery’s new brewhouse.
“There definitely was the most excitement when there was the prospect of a new brewhouse, but that dragged on and everything has been a struggle post 2020,” Anderson said. “The new brewhouse, new investment, new energy would reinvigorate Three Ranges.”
Lewis said the expanded brewhouse has been a longtime goal for the business.The pair purchased their building on 5th Avenue in 2017 and proceeded to have two successful years of production, which allowed Lewis and Anderson to set their sights on upgrading their brewhouse to a steam powered unit and pursue the funding required to expand their building.
However, within days of Lewis returning to Valemount with a new steam-powered boiler, COVID-19 hit, shutting down businesses across the province and grinding the pair’s expansion plans to a halt.
“We already had our building plans underway, like they were with the engineers and we should have actually had them before the shutdown, but we didn’t,” Lewis said.
In total, it took the brewery about two years to get the correct set of building plans before construction could begin.
There were further delays once construction wrapped up in 2023, with upgraded electrical equipment arriving six months past its expected delivery date.
“They told us six months but it took a year to get here. At the same time, our new brewhouse that we’ve been paying on, has been sitting at Vale Coffee in storage since last January,” Lewis said.
Financial challenges
Lewis said that on top of the financial toll of expansion delays, Three Ranges has seen lower sales due to the end of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion, a slower winter tourism season because of the lack of snow in 2023 and the highway closures stemming from the Jasper wildfire.
“There were three or four days after the fire that everybody was in town, which was kind of like standard kind of summer days for us, just a different crowd than we’d normally have. And then once everybody started leaving the next ten days it was dead, we didn’t break 800 bucks a night,” Lewis said.
He explained that a majority of the brewery’s sales occur in the summer, which allows the brewery to continue to operate throughout the winter when taproom sales drop significantly, going from making up 65 per cent of the brewery’s sales to 35 per cent.
Lewis says the business needs a minimum amount in its savings account for the business to weather the winter as most of their sales during the winter months come from distribution.
He said that he and Anderson would like to see the expansion be completed and the business continue under new ownership.
“We want the expansion to finish and we want the business to continue for the community, we’re just not in any position to continue the expansion and get it all completed and still try and survive winter,” Lewis said.
Despite the brewery struggling with the current economic downturn and day to day operations, Lewis and Anderson hope to keep the brewery open as long as they can, though they have slowed the amount of beer the business is brewing.
“We have had to make the difficult decision to scale back production. We will remain open for as long as possible, but the coming weeks remain uncertain,” the pair told Mug Club members in an email.
“We deeply wish the outlook were different. We love this place and especially the community we’ve built around the brewery. We hope there are passionate individuals out there who can continue our vision and keep this special place going.”
At the time of writing this article, the brewery has no set date as to when it may close. Anderson says it is dependent on how business goes in the coming few weeks.
The ideal buyer
Lewis says he hopes the next owner of the brewery is someone who is community-minded and sees the importance of investing in the business in order to allow it to thrive in the future.
“They’ve got to want to see the expansion go through and then just see the potential of what we’ve created and everything that we’ve done and keep it going forward for the community,” he said.
Lewis said he is willing to support potential new owners in a transition period while they learn the ropes. Anderson said she also will be available to share her knowledge of the business. She said the length of the transition period would depend on the new owner’s level of expertise.
“It will depend on what they know and the learning curve. We want the next owners to succeed,” Anderson told The Goat.
Anderson says both her and Lewis plan to remain in Valemount after the sale of the brewery.
“We don’t have plans for leaving the community. We have two girls in school, my parents live here, and we have many close friends,” she said.
She added that anyone interested in purchasing the brewery shouldn’t hesitate to reach out and ask questions. Those interested can reach out to Lewis and Anderson at [email protected].
