While working at Zumiez, a clothing company headquartered in Lynnwood, Jack Crawford had an opportunity to learn far outside the purview of his job as a loss-prevention analyst. He learned about marketing, IT services and other lessons on how to run a business.
It wasn’t until he walked into Seattle’s Full Throttle Bottles about four years ago that he realized what he could do with all that knowledge.
“I walked in and thought, ‘Wait, you can do this?’ ” Crawford said of the taproom/bottleshop format.
Four years later, Crawford and his wife, Megan, opened Brigid’s Bottleshop in the large complex near the Edmonds waterfront that used to house a Safeway and now is home to Cascadia Art Museum. Brigid’s Bottleshop is celebrating its one-year anniversary from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s been better than expected,” Crawford said of the first year. “Edmonds has been a great place to open up and our customers have really embraced us.”
The Crawfords leased the space where Brigid’s Bottleshop is located before the museum was slated to take over the majority of the space next door. It was a serendipitous turn. Jack Crawford has worked in mixed media art since high school, including a brief stint at the Seattle Art Institute, and wanted to make art a permanent fixture at the bottleshop. A number of his pieces grace the walls opposite the bar, and the hope is to have artists’ work rotating there.
The aesthetic of Brigid’s Bottleshop is clean and simple. High ceilings, reclaimed wood behind the bar and industrial metals make up the feel inside Brigid’s. Outside, large comfortable chairs and a few tables give the south-facing deck a relaxing vibe. A line of 10 coolers full of craft beer line the north wall, with more bottles crammed on nearby shelves.
“We wanted to create a place where people could actually drink what they’re exploring,” Jack said.
Crawford took a few brewing classes at Gallagher’s Where-U-Brew, but decided he wasn’t cut out for brewing full time.
“I don’t have enough of a scientific mind to be a brewer,” said Crawford, who added that it’s a lot cheaper and easier to open a taproom/bottleshop than a brewery.
After deciding to pursue the idea of a taproom/bottleshop, Crawford used the knowledge he learned at Zumiez to put together a business plan. Approximately two years into the plan, though, the Crawfords, with their first child on the way, came to a fork-in-the-road moment: Did it make sense to open a business and be parents?
Soon after, they found the spot in Edmonds and things started falling in place. They secured a lease and decided in May 2013 that it was a go. A little more than two years later they opened Brigid’s Bottleshop.
So why Brigid’s? Brigid’s comes from St. Brigid of Kildare, the patroness of Ireland. That may seem a weird connection, until discovering that one of her miracles was turning bathwater into beer and providing beer to 18 churches from one barrel.
Fortunately for the Crawfords no such miracle was needed to get through their first year.
New Snohomish taproom/bottleshop: This past spring, husband and wife Josh and Mara Arnold opened Josh’s Taps &Caps, a new taproom and bottleshop in Snohomish. They have 30 beers and ciders on tap and a number of coolers full of bottled craft beer (the caps) to peruse if you can’t find something on tap. They’ve already hosted a number of Brewers nights, including with Melvin Brewing and Everett’s Crucible Brewing. They also regularly invite food trucks to provide food. Saturday, The Vet Chef food truck will be on hand, serving tacos, nachos and more from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. For more on Josh’s Taps &Caps, pick up the next issue of Washington North Coast magazine this fall.
If you go
Brigid’s Bottleshop is celebrating its one-year anniversary from 2 to 6 p.m. on July 23 at the bottleshop, 190 Sunset Ave, Suite C, Edmonds. There will be treats for sale and fun activities. A number of specialty beers will be tapped, including Stone’s W00T Stout, Prairie Artisan Ale’s Birthday Bomb and more. For more information, go to brigidsbottleshop.com.
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