Landmark Brewery To Cease Production Lone Star Brewery Closing, But Museum Will Remain Open
The Lone Star Brewery, a landmark here built in 1933, will cease production Sept. 27, representatives of its new owner, the Stroh Brewery Co., has announced.
About 170 of the brewery’s 230 workers are expected to lose their jobs during the two-month phase-out of the San Antonio plant. Employees were informed of the decision last week.
The Buckhorn Museum and hospitality facilities, which occupy almost one-third of the 32-acre brewery site, will remain open and its 25 employees will be retained. The museum complex attracts about 150,000 visitors a year.
A seven-employee San Antonio field sales office also will remain open. However, the Lone Star and Lone Star Light brands will be produced at Stroh’s brewery in Longview, Texas, which has three times the brewing capacity of the San Antonio plant, officials said.
The Lone Star brewery is the smallest of 10 owned by Stroh, and is considered too small and inefficient to remain competitive, yet too big to function as a microbrewery, company officials said.
Upgrades to the 63-year-old plant would have cost more than $40 illion, said William Henry, president and chief executive officer of Stroh, which acquired Lone Star and other properties from the G. Heileman Brewing Co. this month.
“Although this decision to phase out brewing production in San Antonio has been difficult, the age of the brewery, coupled with the excess brewing capacity in the United States and within our own brewery network, left us with no viable alternative,” Henry said in a news release Thursday.
“The decision to phase out production in San Antonio in no way reflects on the work of the employees,” Henry said. “In fact, these fine employees have worked diligently to continue to brew and package very high-quality beers over the years.”
Officials expect that of the 199 brewery workers, 20 to 25 will retire and up to 10 salaried employees will find jobs at other Stroh facilities.
The others will receive enhanced severance packages in connection with the closing, a spokesman said.