Atrevida Beer Company reopens doors for 1st time since night of Club Q shooting
For the first time since the shooting at Club Q, Atrevida Beer Company opened its doors Friday. Its owner, Richard Fierro, was at the venue when the shooting happened and tackled the suspect. Police say he saved lives.
The Brewery opened at 2 p.m. but there was already a line of people waiting to get in as the day went on.
Michelle Gran was on a ski trip and decided to take a long detour to visit and support the brewery because she was deeply touched by the bravery Richard Fierro displayed.
"Whenever there's situations like this, that happen, we all feel so helpless," Gran said. "We just don't get opportunities in life like this."
She says she was willing to wait in line as long as it took to give the brewery some business.
"I got a $50 bill in my pocket so I'm going to spend it one way or another," she said.
Gran says she's happy to see she wasn't the only one who showed up to support Atrevida.
"To see the community come out and support them just really makes me feel a lot better," Gran said.
Andy France owns Lost Friend Brewing Company just across town. He said as a fellow business owner, when the Club Q shooting happened, it hit scared him.
"Seeing a place like Club Q targeted and attacked in such a way really, you know, hit home for us," France said.
He also wants to make sure the Club Q victims know the community cares. So Saturday he and 30 other Colorado Springs breweries will be donating a portion of their profits to the victims.
"It's extreme to give money away for a lot of these small businesses and the fact that all of them are willing to step up and put that aside and sacrifice their own sales for the benefit of the greater good is really awesome to see," France said.
He says he is also glad to see the community step up for their neighbors.
"I think it's good to see this kind of response and the solidarity behind it regardless of you know, who the people were and where they came from," France said.
All of this support hasn't gone unnoticed by the owners of Atrevida Beer. They posted a long video on Facebook thanking everyone and asking for patience as they fulfilled orders for merchandise ordered online.
"We are overwhelmed by the love and support. Everyone is giving us that we feel it. All the comments… It's just an outpouring of love and it's beautiful," said Jess Fierro.