City Winery Brisbane Pty Ltd closes six venues in Queensland
A major restaurant chain has closed six locations with immediate effect after it became the latest catering company to go bankrupt.
City Winery Brisbane Pty Ltd, based in the Queensland capital, made the difficult decision on Wednesday to go into voluntary liquidation, just five years after it opened its first site.
City Winery in Fortitude Valley and on Edward Street, and the Ardo locations in Newstead, Milton, Hawthorne and Graceville are all closed with immediate effect.
An unknown number of employees have also been laid off.
Darren Vardy of Insolvency Options Pty Ltd has been appointed as liquidator and will be in touch shortly creditors.
It is currently unknown how how much money the company owes.
Chief Executive Dave Cush called the decision heartbreaking, citing the “drastic decline” in customer spending, the Covid pandemic and the recent opening of the Star Casino in Brisbane.
“A dramatic decline in consumer spending, fueled by the current cost of living and interest rates, combined with rising labor and operating costs, have all had an outsized impact on our business,” he said.
City Winery Brisbane Pty Ltd went into voluntary liquidation on Wednesday. Pictured is one of the six locations that have since closed
Six locations in Brisbane closed overnight and an unknown number of staff have already been laid off
Mr Cush added that the company never fully recovered from the Covid lockdowns.
The final ‘nail’ in the coffin, however, was The Star Casino opened its doors last week on Queens’ Wharf.
He said City Winery “simply cannot compete with a company of that size.”
“I sincerely apologize to our customers and clients who have been affected by this closure and thank you for the many years of support you have given us,” Mr Cush added.
“You’re the reason we kept going as long as we could.”
Darren Vardy of Insolvency Options Pty Ltd was appointed liquidator and it is unclear how much money the company was owed at the time of closure
City Winery’s first location was a converted warehouse on Wandoo Street, where customers could take winemaking masterclasses.
It was Brisbane’s first inner-city winery since 1860 and a second location opened in the CBD shortly afterwards.
There were also more locations open on Edward Street and Eagle Street Pier, but they were forced to close their doors in 2022 when the area was demolished by developers.
Adro’s liquor store and wine bar initially opened in Newstead in 2023, expanding to Hawthorne, Graceville and Milton in the months that followed.