Major Brisbane restaurant brand City Winery collapses
A major restaurant group with six venues across Brisbane including in Fortitude Valley, Newstead and Milton has entered into voluntary liquidation.
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A major Brisbane restaurant chain with six venues across the Queensland capital has collapsed.
City Winery Brisbane Pty Ltd has entered voluntary liquidation, leading to the immediate closure of City Winery Fortitude Valley and Edward St and Ardo’s locations at Newstead, Milton, Hawthorne and Graceville.
“I am heartbroken at having to make the incredibly difficult decision to close City Winery and Ardo’s,” City Winery Brisbane CEO Dave Cush said.
“A drastic drop in consumer spending fuelled by the current cost of living and interest rate environment, coupled with increases in labour and operational costs have all had too great of a compounding impact on our business.”
Mr Cush also blamed historical effects of Covid and its lockdowns for the business’s failure, and said the final “nail” in the coffin was the launch of The Star at Queens’s Wharf last week.
“We simply cannot compete with an operation of that scale,” he said.
City Winery launched in 2019 in Fortitude Valley as Brisbane’s first inner-city winery since 1860.
Taking over an old warehouse on Wandoo St, the venue offered wine making masterclasses, where patrons could make their own drop, alongside a full restaurant and bar.
The business then expanded into the CBD, with an Edward St site and an Eagle St Pier location, which was closed when the precinct was demolished by developers in 2022.
Ardo’s was launched at the beginning of 2023 in Newstead, as a neighbourhood wine bar and bottleshop, before quickly expanding to Hawthorne, Graceville and Milton.
City Winery also ran rose festivals in Brisbane with tickets selling for $150pp.
A spokeswoman from the business said liquidators would be in contact with creditors in due course.
It is not yet known how many staff will lose their jobs or how much money is owed.