WILMINGTON – TRU Colors, a brewery startup from serial entrepreneur George Taylor who set out to build a business focused on “Truth, Responsibility, and Unity” with a team of former rival gang members, has closed.
Taylor announced the decision to shut down last week. Sept. 9 was the last day of business.
“I spent the past 7 years working closely with so many amazing people trying to better our city. Over time, our work turned into TRU Colors, a social mission with a tightly integrated business,” wrote in a letter published online.
“There was no playbook, and while we made mistakes, we learned and TRU Colors became effective in its social mission. But it has nevertheless been tough gaining local support. I’ve asked many about this, and generally the response is that for many in Wilmington, optics are more important than results. I sure hope this is untrue since this lack of care and courage would make real social change nearly impossible.
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“With these challenges and more (COVID delays to product issues to biased media to lost teammates), TRU Colors has faced stiff headwinds that have slowed progress. These challenges have only increased in 2022, and with recent events, tragically we are no longer able to continue.
TRU Colors’ last day of operation will be September 9th. The cost of change is high.”
For more about the story and reasons leading to the shutdown you can read Taylor’s full letter online here:
There’s also a detailed report in the Wilmington Star newspaper:
The brewery was envisioned and founded by Taylor, a co-founder and former chairman of Untappd (acquired by Next Glass, then later acquired by Providence Equity Partners in March 2020), as a brewing operation that would directly employ rival gang members, who together, would run the business and brew the beer.
Wilmington’s TRU Colors, backed by serial entrepreneur George Taylor, brews beer to end violence
