Suds Duds FAFO

 

Sad!  Is it us or does it seem the Malignant Fascist and his cultists need to blame someone or something else other than themselves for their failures (our emphasis)

A controversial military-themed brewery championed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin is closing a little more than a year after opening in Norfolk.

The company blames a “local woke mob,” but legal filings show a company in deep financial distress dating back years.

Armed Forces CEO Alan Beal wrote in a statement the company will sell its Norfolk building and taproom “while we look for a new home and headquarters in a friendlier environment.”

“Unfortunately, our ability to profitably operate in Norfolk was severely affected by the local woke mob – a few individuals in the area who have no love for the traditional American values we hold as a company,” Beal wrote.

Armed Forces Brewing drew the ire of some neighbors as it relocated from Maryland to Norfolk in 2023. Critics called comments, social media posts and marketing from the company and its spokesman misogynistic, homophobic and transphobic, arguing the company had no place in the city.

They seem nice.  Bet their beer is just as nice, too!  But, these rugged entrepreneurial individualists got ahead using their own wits and the quality of their beer...  uh, what?

Gov. Glenn Youngkin touted the brewery’s relocation after luring the company with $300,000 in tax incentives.

So even government largesse from Gov. Red Vest wasn't enough to save them.  Bet their beer is nice!

Armed Forces took over the former O’Connor Brewing location, attracted in part because of the huge military presence and veteran population in the community.

But when the company arrived, it was greeted with neighbors who rebuffed the company and its perceived values, with more than 800 registering opposition to the brewery as it sought city permits.

Robert O’Neill, a former Navy Seal who claims to have shot Osama Bin Laden and now makes regular appearances on right-wing media, acted as the company’s public face and also owns a small part of the company.

He’s complained about the Navy’s use of a drag queen as a recruitment ambassador, insinuated that members of the LGBTQ+ community are “pedophiles” in a since-deleted tweet and was removed from a Delta flight and banned from the airline for refusing to wear a mask in 2020.

Armed Forces Brewing said O’Neill was no longer in a public-facing role with the company after he was accused of calling a security guard a racial slur when he was arrested in Texas in 2023. However, the company still lists him as a director and advisor with his photo on its website.

He seems nice, too.  But, clearly, being Malignant Fascist cultists, they must share the same business acumen as their fearless leader.  And it turns out, they do:

Already operating in the red when it arrived in Norfolk, documents filed with the SEC this week offer a peek under the hood of the struggling brewery.

The March 4 filing shows despite nearly tripling its revenues, the company lost more than $1.7 million in the first half of 2024. Armed Forces partially attributed that to “ramping up brewing at our new Norfolk facility.”

This came after consecutive years of losses. The company lost more than $2.4 million in 2023 and more than $900,000 the year before.

The filing also notes that the company had next to no cash on hand by June 30, down to just $12,000 compared to more than $282,000 six months before.

And court records from Portsmouth, Norfolk and Henrico show several different companies going after Armed Forces Brewing for unpaid debts in filings that date back as far as October 2024.

So, like their cult leader, they don't pay their bills.  Future investors and business partners take note!  But their beer!  Who could mess up that!?  (Well, the average score of their beers came in at a whopping 3.6 out of 5, which puts it in the same rarified air as Trump wines, so, sad!)

(Image:  artist rendering of man too smart and self- respecting to drink Armed Forces beer / via All About Beer)