Dallas brewpub shifts focus to coffee as beer sales drop

For as long as it’s been pouring pints, Vector Brewing has been fueled by fight.

“We were in a unique position where we opened right after COVID got started, so about two weeks after the world shut down we opened our doors,” said Craig Bradley.

“The world closed and we opened,” added his wife Veronica Bradley.

Right away, Veronica and Craig Bradley had to decide to do whatever it took to stay alive.

“While we couldn't allow people in the doors that didn't work here we could let people in the parking lot and it was pretty amazing,” said Veronica.

“For two months it was all just slinging beer and pizza out the door to cars, and we weren't set up to be a brewery that was packaging, so we were doing every single can by hand our staff was just canning one at a time,” said Craig.

Five years later and you might mistake this for a neighborhood diner rather than the brewpub Vector grew into.

Reinventing again, the Bradleys have expanded their hours to serve coffee and breakfast amid the grim reality of another challenging chapter.

“We absolutely would have closed two months ago, so coffee’s keeping the doors open,” said Veronica.

While the Bradleys face the same hurdles as many small businesses, including rising costs, slowing sales and a consumer shift towards convenience, craft breweries have a unique challenge.

Last year, the brewer’s association reported the overall beer market shrank by 5% as beer sales dropped.

“The things that we’re seeing that are most prevalent right now are drinking habits have changed and younger people aren’t drinking straight beer as much. They’re looking for alternatives,” said Vice Chair of the Texas Craft Brewer’s Guild Seth Morgan.

Morgan said his own sales at Denton County Brewing Company are still down 18% from where they were pre-pandemic.

He said the group has lobbied state lawmakers for ways to boost sales.

That includes allowing brewpubs to sell straight to consumers via third-party delivery apps, just like restaurants and package stores. But those efforts have failed, and several breweries around the state have closed their doors.

“I am worried because candidly, we’re all scared and if we were to have a bad quarter, a lot of folks would not be in business anymore,” he said.

“We have friends that come in on a Friday night and they're like, 'Man, y'all are packed, y'all are killing it.' We're not killing it. We're killing it for one night and a place can't survive on one night,” said Craig.

That’s why they continue to innovate.

The Bradleys aren’t alone in launching a coffee and breakfast service.

They learned how from a fellow brewer.

Others, including Morgan, have expanded menus to include non-beer beverages. And both he and the Bradleys are among those treating events like a critical part of their business plan, doing whatever it takes to survive.

“This is more emotional than I wanted to get. My kids are so proud of this place. I think you really do it for them. Then, I'm really stubborn,” said Veronica.

“You can't go into business without being stubborn,” added Craig.

“There’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity and we're there,” said Veronica.

Vector is open starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday through Sunday.