Sonoma County’s Flagship files for bankruptcy reorganization after closing 2 taprooms

After years of expansion and a series of unexpected setbacks, Flagship Tooper is seeking a fresh start with Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection – A Renewed Focus on its successful Dota Rosa ROSA.

Barrel LLC, doing business as Flagship Puntroom, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. The list of filling about $ 892,599 in assets and $ 1.3 million in millions, emphasizes the type of finance that follows years of rapid but complete growth.

Formed in 2016 by founding members Robert Watkins, Matthew Alow, James Holt, PJ Wivey, Pugwing vacated its space at ONEeven in 2022 with the acquisition of Civilization, which closed the Mendocino Avenue Taproom in May of this year. Santa rosa’s only bar by Astaro Rosa at 446 B ST. remains open today.

“We have already closed the failed expansion,” Mran general manager Imran said in an interview. The Windsor site was closed at the beginning of the year, and frontline workers began reopening it as a rough draft. In September, the original Cotati location closed.

Imran described the Windsor area as promising at first, but was hampered by a strong landlord movement.

“There was an upscale neighbor who had a particular problem – very unreasonable even with the most appropriate noise,” she said.

The Cotati site is facing a major blow – a 10-month power outage starting in 2022 after a fire in electrical equipment.

“Actually, we worked there with a limited capacity. We threw other people from outside, they found other producers,” said Imran. “It wasn’t for profit. We were doing it to keep the building healthy and to keep the workers employed.”

As Cotati struggled to keep the lights on, Windsor sales weakened.

“And now we had these two bad associations, taken by Santa Rosa,” said Imran. “Santa Rosa is, and always has been, a profitable place.”

The company’s catering operation has also rebounded after securing a contract with a local powerhouse to work in its commercial kitchen.

“But sales died down, and we were losing a lot of money every month,” says Imran. The operation has since been consolidated at the B Street location, with the smoking operation starting in the fall.

The company employs 18 to 20 workers who manage a member of the watkins described in the court announcement as “servers, bartenders, cooks, most, living, paid living to pay.”

In Oct. 30 First Bankruptcy, US Day Trustee Jared noted that the company had $15,000 in cash but did not deny the company’s motivations to pay wages before working. The court approved both decisions, approving $30,000 in 15 days of costs and setting the next hearing for Dec. 12 at 10:30

Major creditors include commercial debt (approximately $450,000), the IRS ($120,000), California Franchise Cat) and Dealers ($35,000) and United Rentals ($38,000) and Electric Co ($28,000).

Despite the chaos, Santa Rosa’s Santa Rosa has adapted to changing industrial trends.

“The beer industry is down 12% this year,” Imran said. “We curbed that a bit. In March 2024, we transitioned into a full bar.”

And the line of drinks also includes nonalcoholine options

The annual income reached about $2 million in three taplies, according to tax filings in the court document, and now it was less than $1 million. But IMRAN hopes to reach $1.5 million next year and maybe $2 million to $3 million in a few years.

“Now all our focus, all our resources, all our energy is going into this one place. The future looks very bright,” said Imran.

Chapter 11 is “the exact tool to use” when a sound basic business is facing unusual problems, he said. The company employed Subchapter 5 code-breaking code restructuring rules, which aim to get small businesses to work on their back-end systems in months.

“It’s a good way to get yourself on your feet, keep people employed, and make the creditors whole,” says Imran.

Jeff Quackenbush joined the North Bay business magazine in May 1999. He primarily covers wine, construction and real estate. Reach him at [email protected] or 707-521-4256.