Sacramento's Device Brewing abruptly announces closure of all of its locations
SACRAMENTO — A popular Northern California brewery is closing down all of its locations.
All three locations of Device Brewing Company will be shutting their doors Sunday night. Employees say they only got two days' notice.
"In literally 24 hours, pretty much, we will be shutting our doors," said bartender Luke Mitchell on Saturday.
Mitchell has been with Device Brewing Company for five and a half years. But after this weekend, he won't be their employee anymore.
"I get the message an hour before going to work and it's just like, 'What the heck, what's going on here? I don't know," he said.
Mitchell says the roughly 20 employees received a lengthy message from the owners about closing the business — with just two days' notice.
"It's kinda messed up that people just get two days and not have a job anymore," said customer Adrien Cuevas. "It's a good brewery, good beer."
"It's a little sad just because we were all dedicated employees. We all loved working here and everything was kind of kept in the dark," said Mitchell.
Employees say the message from the owners cited that the profits just aren't there to keep the business going and that they needed a change. Employees say the owners are moving out of state.
"There's things behind the scenes that we don't really know," said Mitchell.
On April 3, Device Brewing posted on social media announcing an expansion for their Ice Blocks location. But just three weeks later, they're shutting down altogether.
CBS News Sacramento reached out to the owners but didn't hear back in time for this report.
"I'm really bummed. I would definitely come back here if they weren't closing," said customer Aly Prokes.
The breweries have become a foundation for community, but employees say their questions about the closure remain unanswered.
"I'm expecting a paycheck for my last paycheck. I'm expecting one, yes, I'd hope so," said Mitchell. "But there hasn't been any comment on it at all."
Device Brewing employees are asking for transparency as they begin a new job search.
"I've made a lot of friends, a lot of connections, a lot of memories. It's a little sad for it to go down like this," said Mitchell.
Sunday will be the last day the business is open.
