Though Stone Brewing was originally founded within an industrial park suite on a San Marcos cul-de-sac, for most the iconic brand will forever be intrinsically linked with the city of Escondido. Ten years into Stone’s existence, founders Greg Koch and Steve Wagner decided to take their company to not only the next level, but levels far beyond what any local brewing company had done or even dared dream of, constructing a 57,000-square-foot headquarters with two 120-barrel brewhouses, an expansive cellar and packaging line, all abutting a palatial, two-story restaurant boasting a one-acre outdoor beer garden. It was by far the county’s largest beer-production facility, leaving some to wonder if the company would be able to grow into and make full use of its vast capacity. Spoiler alert: they did.
Less than a decade after onlining the Escondido brewery, Koch and Wagner commissioned the construction of a next-door packaging hall. That 65,000-square-foot structure became the fifth of Stone’s Escondido locations, joining a nearby administrative center and catering kitchen, the headquarters for Stone Distributing Co. (which was sold to Sunset Distributing last year), and a discrete barrel warehouse and small-batch brewing brewery on Mission Avenue. Stone was the local success story Escondido officials pointed to, as well as an example for entrepreneurs to aspire to, providing a blueprint from which other brewing companies in San Diego and beyond would reference when planning their own growth. All of which makes the fact that any trace of Stone will soon be wiped out of the north inland municipality.
Following Stone’s 2022 sale to Japan-based Sapporo, ownership retained the vast majority of the company’s employees. In addition to producing Stone’s core beers, production staffers were assigned the top-priority assignment of fine-tuning the large-scale manufacture of Sapporo beers in the U.S. It was a painstaking process which took years, but Stone’s brew crew came through and took great pride in not only reproducing such a globally popular lager, but in many of their opinions, improving upon it. But once that objective was accomplished, Sapporo decided it would do best to shift attention exclusively to production of its own wares, something they felt could be done most efficiently at Stone’s larger production facility in Richmond, Virginia. What was left of Stone’s Escondido assets was deemed expendable, but not without value.
In April, Sapporo sold the Stone brand, beer portfolio, its brewpub in Point Loma’s Liberty Station, and taprooms in downtown San Diego and Oceanside to Paso Robles-based Firestone Walker Brewing and its parent organization Duvel USA. This left Sapporo with the Escondido brewery, restaurant and packaging hall, properties that have been openly shopped by real-estate agents for months. When news of the deal broke, Sapporo noted that Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Escondido (pictured above) would remain open until later this year. At present, it looks as though the venue will stay open through the busy holiday season before permanently closing.
Meanwhile, Sapporo has conducted the first of several rounds of layoffs. According to sources within the organization, earlier this week the company provided notice to 58 members of its production staff that they will be terminated effective Monday, October 19. Next month, WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notices will be issued for additional employees, with the complete shutdown of all non-hospitality operations set for mid-November.
While Stone’s remaining Escondido staffers have been aware of what awaits since the brand’s sale, that knowledge does not alleviate the sadness that comes with saying farewell to a workplace – and a city – that they have poured so much of themselves, their efforts and their passions into.
Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Escondido is located at 1999 Citracado Parkway in Escondido