USA, VT: Whetstone restaurant, brewery up for sale

David Hiler recently started spitballing ideas for ways to reinvent The Station and Whetstone Beer Co. when a new pedestrian bridge comes online as part of the new bridge being constructed from Hinsdale, N.H., to Brattleboro, the Brattleboro Reformer reported on October 24.

Ideas included an "east meets west brewfest," weddings and parties, blowing out the sides of a wall for patio tables so customers could walk up with their dog and grab something to eat. When co-owner Tim Brady asked if Hiler planned to do all those things, he gave an honest answer.

"I was like, I'm not going to do that," Hiler said. "I'm tired. I feel like this is the time for someone to bring it to the next level, where it had been before the pandemic."

Hiler said he's old — 59 years old — and lost a leg. He has a prosthetic leg after being diagnosed with synovial chondromatosis in his knee, a usually non-cancerous condition that creates lumps of cartilage that need to be removed.

For now, Hiler is back in the general manager position at The Station.

"I put 12 years of my life into this and want to put it in good hands and bring it back to its glory days," he said. "I do think it's in a really good place for the next owners."

Listed for sale at nearly $2.5 million, the property at 36 Bridge St. is described as an "unparalleled" waterfront restaurant and brewery. All inventory and equipment are being marketed in the listing.

"The 240 permitted seats are a combination of interior and exterior seating including the covered rooftop 'Bier Garten' providing an outdoor dining experience like nowhere else in the region," the online listing states. "The entire interior was completely renovated over the past 12 years including the kitchen in 2017."

Also being sold as part of the deal is a nearby brewery facility at 39 Frost St.

"This is a modern high-tech brewery with an expanding well-known brand with unlimited potential," the listing states. Not all the equipment is new and includes a beer truck with an 8-tap keg station for events. "Everything needed to promote/market, make, can and distribute/sell is included. Right down to T-Shirts, and glassware."

Realtor Chris Long said the property is being marketed as "a turnkey business."

"Someone needs a new vigor to get in there and do it right," he said. "Someone is going to be very successful."

Long said he's had a few showings including one on Tuesday morning.

"I've had quite a bit of interest so far," he said. "It's kind of a unique purchase for people. It's a big ticket for a lot of people. It takes a lot of thought."

Long expects the property will sell.

"When?" he said. "Who knows."

Long sold the property to Hiler, Brady and his wife Amy Brady in 2012 when it was the Riverview Cafe, which was owned by Tristan Toleno and run for 11 years. The brewery facility was purchased in 2018.

Hiler said he thinks "Brattleboro goes through its own ebbs and flows." He's seen similar changes in Bellows Falls and in Keene, N.H.

Sam's Outdoor Outfitters announced it will be closing its Brattleboro store on Main Street. A liquidation sale is underway. The owners of Mocha Joe's, also on Main Street, are looking to sell the business. M&T Bank closed its Main Street branch last month, ending an approximately 150-year run of having banks in the location.

Hiler said he and the co-owners would prefer to get out of the brewery and restaurant businesses. They also put the River Garden Marketplace on Main Street up for sale at $899,000, Long said.

They plan to keep Kampfires Campground in Dummerston. They had one of their best years yet at Kampfires, Hiler said.

It's up to the new owners on whether they will continue to use the Whetstone name.

"We feel we built a good brand with the brewery," Hiler said, counting hundreds of clients in Vermont and Massachusetts. "We're one of the old guys in the craft brew business in Vermont, at least the middle age guys. I think we have a good name here. I feel like this place is primed for the next person to come along and do it."

Back to being "the face of the Whetstone" again, Hiler acknowledges one of the issues the owners had in recent times stems from not having that continued presence.

"It was difficult during COVID and beyond," he said. "I'd like to see it through to the new beginning."

Asked if he's having fun, Hiler said, "I hate to say it, yes."

"I'm definitely not the person I was 10 years ago but I know why I got into the business in the first place," he said. "I love the people who come through the doors."

Hiler said he enjoys when customers thank him and tell him they had a great time.

"It feeds me," he said. "I will miss that in some ways. In other ways, I will not miss it."

Hiler said the owners don't want to reinvent themselves again.

"We've done it four or five times," he said. "We don't want to start a new thing."

He recounted starting the business 11 years ago, right after Tropical Storm Irene destroyed parts of the local area.

"This town was in trouble," he said. "We lost a lot of hospitality spaces. We had a fire in the Brooks House the year before. Brattleboro was really downtrodden. We were one of the first to come in when it was the phoenix rising. We had a really thriving community and town. People really lifted each other up and were supportive. I think that could happen again."

Hiler is sure a party or celebration will be held before the businesses are sold.

"I think we have to get to that point — we don't know how long that will take," he said.

He looks forward to seeing some of the 460 Mug Club members, whose numbers reach beyond 460. He said he would love to have old friends come visit him at The Station.

27 October, 2023