Boston, MA – Craft Beer Cellar is proud to announce that they have sold a portion of both the Franchise Company & Brand Store to longtime friends, Joseph Yarid & Marla Yarid-De La Cruz. Joseph will remain a silent partner while Marla will take over a portion of the day-to-day Brand Management. Marla is a Cicerone Certified Beer Server planning to become a Certified Cicerone® in the next few months. Joe is an avid home brewer and planning to become a part of the daily operations by 2017.
Why bring in additional ownership to an already successful company? “We need the help! Kate & I are doing a pretty good job keeping our focus, while growing at such a rapid rate, a pace that we knew we wouldn’t be able to keep up for long. We are still ‘living the dream’ and making it look easy, but the truth is that we’re running ourselves ragged.” said Suzanne Schalow, co-founder of Craft Beer Cellar. “We’ve had several offers from some very good people to buy-in to our current partnership, but we were looking for a working owner who understood this industry and shared our passion. We’ve known these two for nearly twenty years and consider them family, add their love for good beer and it sounds a lot like perfection.”
Craft Beer Cellar was founded in 2010 by Certified Cicerones® Suzanne Schalow and Kate Baker in Belmont, Massachusetts. Plans to franchise were announced in 2012 and the first franchise Craft Beer Cellar opened in Westford, MA in October of 2013. The family now includes 18 stores in 10 states, with more stores in planning for 2015. Craft Beer Cellar Belmont won Boston Magazine’s Best of Boston award in 2013, 2014 and 2015.