Iron Hill closes all locations

One listing indicated that Iron Hill had nearly 1,900 employees, although that number is lower, due to recent closings. The closings  could mean upwards  200 part and full-time Delaware  employees lost their jobs in recent weeks.

If Iron Hill files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it would have more room to renegotiate leases, although a shutdown would make the process more difficult.The filing might also allow an entity to buy the company at a  discount.

Notes on the doors of Iron Hill locations and a Facebook post below expressed the hope that  doors would reopen in the future. 

Iron Hill operated brewery-restaurants in Wilmington and near Rehoboth Beach. Earlier this month,, it closed down locations in Newark, southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, with little notice.

Its restaurants featured an on-site brewery and the company later opened a production brewery in Exton, PA that  sold its offerings at local package  stores.

Iron Hill's footprint  in Delaware was limited to three locations under the state's alcohol beverage laws and was a factor in opening the production brewery in Pennsylvania. Iron Hill was based in Wilmington but later moved its headquarters to Exton.

The  partners went on to add locations in suburban areas and Philadelphia. One its more successful locations was on the Wilmington Riverfront. The company had as many as 21 locations at one point.

It expanded beyond the Mid-Atlantic region to Atlanta and South Carolina. The Atlanta locations were later closed.

Iron Hill is believed to be largely owned by private equity interests.

Restaurant-brewpub chains have struggled in a changing market. John Harvard's, a national chain, closed the doors of its north Wilmington location two decades ago.  Granite City, which had a similar format to Iron Hill, closed multiple locations, even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

After a long period of growth the number of  craft breweries, some with restaurants, dropped for the first time.

Northern Delaware has been hit with chain restaurant closings that included Brio at Christiana Mall and a TGI Friday's in northern Wilmington.

Iron Hill was founded nearly 30 decades ago in Newark and got its name from a hill south of the college town where iron ore mining took place. The brewery restaurant also had an iron theme to some of its brews.

The hill's iron deposits are sometimes blamed for poor radio reception in Newark. 

The hill also has historical significance as the location where Washington's troops scouted  British troops marching from Chesapeake Bay in an effort to quell the revolution. It led to the battle at nearby Cooches Bridge as the British advanced toward Philadelphia.