Dave Sturm checks the taps at Sturm Haus Beer Market on Houston Street. The market will shut its doors on Dec. 5.One of Chattanooga's pioneering downtown craft beer markets will close next month, a victim of the crowded field of new competitors selling craft beers in the Scenic City.
SturmHaus Beer Market, which opened in the downtown Fleetwood Building in February 2013, is shutting down Dec. 5. Marsha Sturm, one of the owners of the Houston Street business, said Monday she regrets having to close the bar. But she said the owners were unable to continue to prop up the business, especially since other growler and craft beer stores have opened in Chattanooga - including some that can sell higher alcohol content beers than Sturmhaus can under its beer license.
"Being the first combination pub and growler store in Chattanooga, we have seen many new faces on the craft beer scene in a very short amount of time," she said. "This competition, coupled with the changes in beer/wine/liquor laws in Tennessee, has caused our slice of the craft beer pie to shrink to the point of not being able to meet our sales requirements."
Sturm said the downtown location was ideal, but business in the 35-seat restaurant and bar was not enough to sustain the business.