Facing declining sales and a list of creditors, the parent company of Inglewood, California-based Three Weavers Brewing has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
GRDN Hospitality filed Thursday, July 24 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. In its filing, the company listed between $1,000,001 and $10 million in estimated assets, and between $1,000,001 and $10 million in estimated liabilities. The company has between 50 and 99 creditors.
The filing comes four years after Three Weavers founder Lynne Weaver and a group of investors bought the craft brewery back from craft collective CANarchy (now a part of Monster Brewing). Weaver sold Three Weavers to CANarchy in 2018.
According to a motion filed on July 29, Three Weavers has “suffered from a number of different factors, including a supply chain disruption (March-August 2023), inflation (2024) and a general decline in the entire craft beer industry with the shift in consumer preferences away from beer and alcohol (2021-present).”
Additionally, Weaver, who also serves as CEO, was “personally impacted by the January 7, 2024 fires” that hit the Palisades area of Los Angeles, according to the filing. The fire also temporarily shut down Three Weavers’ taproom “due to poor air quality.”
According to the filing, several other factors negatively impacted Three Weavers this year including:
- “The federal government’s implementation of tariffs” in March, which Three Weavers estimated would result in a 12% to 15% increase in its “wholesale prices to its distributors;”
- An approved increase in minimum wage and health benefits in Los Angeles, “which will cause wage inflation and employee retention issues;”
- And a June ICE raid that “significantly deterred” Three Weaver’s consumers “from visiting the taproom, and those customers have not returned.”
“The Debtor is considering a number of reorganization options, including the potential renegotiation of its existing lease and/or to keep the Three Weavers brand alive by contracting with other entities in the brewing industry,” the company continued in the filing. Brewery operations are expected to continue through the bankruptcy process.
Included in GRDN’s liabilities is a secured loan from Live Oak Bank, taken out on September 22, 2022 with a maturity date of September 22, 2036. The initial Small Business Association (SBA) loan was valued at $2.52 million. Additionally, the company took out a $200,000 line of credit from Live Oak. Three Weavers’ monthly payments for the two sums are $30,265.16 and $1,613.99, respectively, according to the motion.
GRDN has petitioned to use cash collateral for its operating costs while the bankruptcy process unfolds. According to the motion, GRDN “holds very little in cash on hand,” but is anticipating “$45,000 in cash in the first week of the Chapter 11 case based on fulfillment of orders and distributor payments.”
Included in the motion is GRDN’s operating income and expenses sheet. For the week ending July 24, net income before tax and expenses was listed as $10,000, with total expenses of $8,400, equaling a net operating income of $1,600. For the week ending August 25, 2025, net income before tax is expected to be $26,861.40, with total expenses of $26,850, for a net operating income of $11.40.
WIth the bankruptcy filing, GRDN was required to submit a list of 20 creditors with the largest unsecured claims. Some of those claims include:
- $78,783.14 in taxes to Los Angeles County
- $60,000 to Manchester Business Park;
- $47,590 to First Rate Electric;
- $40,084.70 to John I. Haas;
- $40,084.70 to Yakima Chief Hops;
- $33,800.04 to MUN CPAs;
- $16,468.72 to CLS Farms;
- $14,330 to D&D Engineering;
- And $12,454.08 to Fer Studio, an architecture firm in Inglewood.
Weaver has not responded to a request for comment as of press time.
Three Weavers was the 96th largest Brewers Association-defined microbrewery in 2024, producing 8,673 barrels of beer, according to the May/June issue of the trade group’s New Brewer Magazine. Annual production fell 9% in 2024, after a 40% increase in 2023 and 32% decline in 2021, according to the BA.
Three Weavers’ dollar sales (-39.6%) and volume, measured in case sales (-35.2%) were both down double-digits in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels year-to-date (YTD) through July 12, according to data shared by 3 Tier Beverages. Declines accelerated in the last 13 weeks (dollar sales -46.1%, volume -48% year-over-year) and the last four weeks (dollar sales -46.9%, volume -49.5%).