"We need this in our community": Entrepreneur working to keep Royal Foundry Craft Spirits open
MINNEAPOLIS – There's an effort underway to save a beloved distillery and community space in the Harrison neighborhood of Minneapolis.
In January, the owner of Royal Foundry Craft Spirits announced the business would be closing due to hardships from the pandemic. But just days later, a prospective owner stepped up determined to keep the doors open.
"We have pickleball, karaoke, ping pong, darts, a baby shower, you name it!" said founder and CEO Kelly Everhart.
She opened the British-inspired distillery in 2018.
"I've spent a lot of my own personal money to keep the doors open, and I just couldn't do it anymore," Everhart said.
Instead of closing in January as planned, the doors stayed open thanks to the mother of an employee, Kamillah El-Amin, who is in the process of taking over the business
"It was a gem that no one knew about, and I just at that point I was like, 'We can't let it close,'" El-Amin said.
"I'm happy actually to find somebody who has the drive and passion to really make it work," Everhart said. "For me, it's the best-case scenario."
El-Amin's trying to raise money to finish the purchase and expand, adding a coworking space and coffee and juice shop, something she says her community desperately needs.
"We've taken a lot of hits on the north side with things closing. You know, even just railing back after the unrest and COVID and all of that," El-Amin said. "To have something like this in the community that goes away, like we don't even get an opportunity to partake in it, I think it would be a travesty to be honest."
Many employees live in the neighborhood and are hopeful for the business to carry on.
"I want to see this place succeed because I'm so tired of change," said bartender Alycia Grace. "I'm really holding on for like a better future because I really think it is coming."
El-Amin says she's about a third of her way to reaching her $75,000 goal to stay open. They hope to finalize the deal in the next few weeks.
"We need this. We need this in our community," El-Amin said.