Fullsteam - A Perfect Example of Place-Based Leveraging!

I deliberately waited to blog about a very soon-to-open addition to what I term the
Foster-Geer Sts District.  Fullsteam Brewery is a block or so up Riggsbee.  It has been fun over the last couple of years since Sean Wilson first briefed me on  the project to see him doggedly stay true to the plan to be in this area of town.

Fullsteam won’t be Durham’s first brewery but it is pioneering Southern-style beer, the first to showcase local farmed goods, heirloom grains, and Southern botanicals in what it terms its plow to pint series such as a hickory-smoked porter and sweet potato ale.

So the brewery which includes a tavern is in the type of brick building so much a part of Durham’s sense of place and in a rapidly emerging new district on the north edge of Downtown and it will feature beers with the taste of this part of the country.  And it ties into Durham’s explosive national epicurean reputation.

That’s what’s meant by leveraging place based assets and unique sense of place.  Visitors including the 80% of newcomers who come first as a visitor, want to experience what’s distinct and at the core of the character of any destination.

And they can do that in Durham because with an exception here or there, Durham continues to place the highest value on the things that make it distinct.

Sean Wilson and his partners get it and they have hung in there and stayed true to their vision, right down to the location.  Here is a cool slide show of the brewery’s progress with a good sense of the building.