That doesn’t make the decision easy. But it does make it feel right.
And we’re not looking at this as the end of Archetype.
We believe there’s more here to build.
When we started Archetype, we wanted to make great beer and create a neighborhood gathering place. Somewhere people could meet friends, find new ones, celebrate big things, survive small things, bring their kids and dogs, listen to music, play games, eat good food and occasionally drink a beer on a Tuesday afternoon for no particularly important reason.
Somehow, that became real.
Over the years, Archetype has grown into a team, a neighborhood, a community and a whole lot of memories.
There were community potlucks, fundraisers, Westival, music, storytimes, tiny people in dress-up clothes, thousands of conversations across the bar and an absolutely ridiculous amount of beer.
There was N0H8, when an ugly moment became an opportunity to put our values into action through beer, art and fundraising.
There was Helene, when we watched our community get knocked sideways and then watched people immediately start figuring out how to help one another.
And there are countless smaller moments we probably never even knew were important to someone: a first date, a birthday, a new friendship, a quiet beer after a long day, a kid discovering their favorite coloring sheet, or a regular becoming part of the furniture.
Those are the things that make us proud of Archetype.
The beer, obviously. But also the people.
