"It was terrible" 200-year-old traditional pub goes bankrupt - employees flabbergasted

Around a week ago, the Wädi-Brauhuus in Wädenswil ZH closed its doors. A former employee is deeply saddened.

A week ago, the last beers were served at the Wädi-Brauhuus in Wädenswil ZH. The traditional brewery, which can look back on almost 200 years of history, has closed its doors for good.

Along with Wädi-Brau-Huus AG, the restaurant and the popular brewing seminars are also going bankrupt. This is a great loss for the employees and guests.

The company's economic problems had grown over the years, as the "Zürichsee-Zeitung" writes. The brewery had already taken on debts in 2023, which have increased further in recent months due to falling sales.

The brewing seminars in particular, which once generated annual sales of one million francs, recently only contributed 250,000 francs. Added to this is the decline in beer consumption in Switzerland: per capita consumption fell from 70 liters when the brewery was founded to 50 liters last year.

The brewery was unable to finance its own non-alcoholic beer, which might have generated new sales. The purchase of the necessary equipment would have cost around one million francs. The coronavirus pandemic and a planned construction project on the Gessner site, which would have severely restricted operations during the construction period, finally sealed the end.

Employees and guests deeply affected

The closure has hit the 17 employees hard. Service employee Gowri Gowreesan, who worked at the Wädi-Brauhuus for 22 years, describes the news in the "Zürichsee-Zeitung" newspaper as a shock: "It was terrible to learn that we would be out of work just before Christmas." She herself only found out about the closure a few days before it happened. The regulars, including clubs and neighbors, were like a second family to her. Many guests bought glasses and bottles of beer as a souvenir to say goodbye.

Christian Weber, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wädi-Brau-Huus AG and member of the founding family, expressed his disappointment at the end of the brewery. "A whole package of difficulties has now led to the closure," he says. Despite previous rescue attempts, including a capital cut in 2019, the company was unable to survive. The brewery's machines and premises are now shut down and a reopening seems unlikely.

Nevertheless, Gowreesan and other employees hope that the restaurant could reopen one day. "I would go back in a heartbeat," she says wistfully. Until then, like many others, she is looking for a new perspective - and is saying goodbye with a heavy heart to a workplace that was far more than just a job for her.