Longtime Portland brewpub Lucky Labrador has again closed down its four locations because of COVID-19, saying the recent spike in cases has made staying open a risk ownership isn’t willing to take.
Gary Geist, who opened the longtime Portland favorite a quarter century ago with partner Alex Stiles, said he made the decision to close the pubs because of significant increases in COVID-19 cases throughout Oregon during the past two weeks.
Sunday marked the fourth consecutive day that Oregon has surpassed 300 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the state’s total reported cases to more than 10,000 for the first time.
“The numbers, that’s what drove me to shut back down,” Geist told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “I’ve been tracking numbers locally, nationally, internationally, and I don’t get it. I track Italy and France, and they’ve got a hold on the situation. Their growth rate is completely under control, under 1 percent. The U.S. just keeps on creeping up.”
The Lab, as it’s known to longtime patrons, shut down in March when Gov. Kate Brown gave the order for all bars and restaurants to close. It came back to life two weeks ago when the governor allowed Multnomah County to move into Phase 1 of reopening June 19.
But then the numbers started spiking and a holiday was approaching.
“I just got the willies going into July Fourth weekend,” he said. “There’s no doubt there was going to be a lot of people socializing, and I just didn’t feel comfortable. I feel apprehensive about what the numbers are going to be in about a week and a half.
“The risk is customers or employees get it, then we’ve got to shut down and disclose, and that can affect business for months or years down the line.”
How long the Lab will be closed is impossible to predict, Geist said, but he added that the brewery has always approached its finances conservatively, so it can shut down again to protect people’s health but still survive as a business.
The Lab had not been doing any to-go or takeout business before reopening, but Geist said he’s considering doing keg or bottle sales on an on-call basis.
“It’s economic Darwinism, just hanging on till this blows over,” he said. “It could be months, it could be years, you just don’t know. There’s already a lot of blood in the water, and many sharks are circling.”
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