JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It’s a “gut punch” to the community, City Councilmember Jimmy Peluso said Tuesday following the recent announcement that another Five Points business is leaving the Riverside area.
Craft beer retailer Alewife Bottleshop and Tasting Room recently announced that it will be closing in October. Locals are disappointed, yet hopeful for a positive change.
″It’s really, you know, it’s heartbreaking,” longtime Riverside resident, Ken Ruskaup, said. “I always, you know, pretty much grew up in the neighborhood and everything and I really miss it.”
Alewife said the business was coming to the end of its 10-year lease and said the decision to leave was not easy.
Related: Why yes, another taco place is opening up in Riverside/5 points | Rainbow crosswalk makes debut in lively 5 Points
“A number of factors played into this decision,” Alewife said on Facebook. “Over the course of the last 10 years, we’ve witnessed significant changes within the craft beer industry. We also cannot overstate the impact the pandemic had on the business. While we were able to navigate through it, the closures left us in a bit of a hole.”
Tevin Hines, a Riverside resident, mentioned that he grew up in the Riverside area and noticed significant changes in Five Points, stating that things don’t look the same. He noted the closure of Sun-Ray Cinema in July, the closure of the Mixed Filling Pie Shop right across the street, and the Black Sheep restaurant shuttering its doors last year.
“I used to come out here all the time,” Tevin said. “I’ve been drinking since I was like 21. I’m 27 now. You know, now I just got to go to other areas. It’s not the same anymore. The prices are going up. But like, you know, you can’t be walking around here without people asking for money.”
Related: Riverside skate park opens after months of delays
Hines said he thinks homelessness and a change in the overall demographics have also led to the decline of foot traffic in the Five Points District.
City Councilmember Jimmy Peluso told News4JAX he’s optimistic and said the future of Five Points remains bright.
“We do have a new taco place coming in there that’s from Miami that’s definitely going to be really high-end,” Peluso said. “It’s going to be cool. We just got a new ice cream place. We just got a new pizza place, Rodrigo, which I just went to the other day. It’s fantastic. We have a new building being built where the Wells Fargo branch was, and that’s going to be another type of restaurant. So, for everything that is leaving, we are seeing new things come in — even the theater. You know, we know that there’s going to be a new music venue. It’s going to be coming in in its place. So, we’re in a place of transition, not, ‘Oh no, everyone’s kind of running out of five points.’”
Peluso also said that change is inevitable and he understands it’s hard for those who love the character of Five Points. He’s hoping locals will become accustomed to the new businesses coming to the area, and most importantly support them financially.