Copyright Santa Rosa Press Democrat
After years of expansion and a series of unforeseen setbacks, Flagship Taproom is seeking a fresh start through Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — and renewed focus on its successful downtown Santa Rosa bar. Loaded Barrel LLC, doing business as Flagship Taproom, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Oct. 28, 2025, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. The filing lists roughly $892,599 in assets and $1.3 million in liabilities, underscoring the financial strain that followed years of rapid but overall unprofitable growth. Formed in 2016 by founding members Robert Watkins, Matthew Inlow, James Holt, and P.J. Ivey, Flagship opened its first location in Cotati that November then expanded to downtown Santa Rosa in 2020. It branched out to Windsor in 2022 through an acquisition of Civilization Brewing, which closed its Mendocino Avenue taproom in May of this year. Only Flagship’s Santa Rosa bar at 446 B St. remains open today. “We have already closed down the unsuccessful expansions,” General Manager Kamran Imran said in an interview. The Windsor site closed early this year, and key former employees reopened it as The Rough Draft. In September, the original Cotati location closed. Imran described the Windsor site as promising at first, but hampered by a strict homeowners association. “There was an upstairs neighbor who was particularly problematic — very unreasonable about even the most reasonable amount of noise,” he said. The Cotati site faced a greater blow — a 10-month power outage beginning in 2022 after a fire in the electrical equipment. “We actually did operate there in a limited capacity. We threw some outdoor parties, got some generators,” Imran said. “It was not profitable. We were doing it to keep life in the building and keep staff employed.” As Cotati had trouble literally keeping the lights on, Windsor’s sales weakened. “So now we had these two nonprofitable ventures, being carried by Santa Rosa,” Imran said. “Santa Rosa is, and always has been, a profitable location.” The company’s catering venture also faltered after contracting with a local brewery to run its commercial kitchen. “But sales there died down, and we were losing a lot of money every month,” Imran said. Operations have since been consolidated to the B Street location, with a meat smoking operation that started there this fall. The company employs 18 to 20 mostly part-time workers, whom managing member Watkins described in a court declaration as “servers, bartenders, cooks, dishwashers … who, for the most part, live paycheck to paycheck.” At the Oct. 30 initial bankruptcy hearing, U.S. Trustee Jared Day noted the company had about $15,000 in cash on hand but did not oppose the company’s motions to pay pre-petition wages and use cash collateral for operations. The court approved both motions, authorizing $30,000 for 15 days of expenses and setting a follow-up hearing for Dec. 12 at 10:30 a.m. Major creditors include Fountainhead Commercial Funding (about $450,000), IRS ($120,000), California Franchise Tax Board ($85,000) and vendors such as Sysco Food Services ($45,000), United Rentals ($35,000) and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. ($28,000). Despite the turmoil, Flagship’s Santa Rosa taproom has adapted to shifting industry trends. “The beer industry is down 12% this year,” Imran said. “We’ve circumvented that a little bit. In March 2024, we transitioned to being a full liquor bar.” And the drinks lineup also includes nonalcoholic options such as nonalcoholic beer and mocktails. Annual revenue had reached nearly $2 million with the three taprooms, according to tax filings in the court record, and now it was down to just over $1 million. But Imran is optimistic of reaching $1.5 million next year and perhaps $2 million to $3 million in a few years. “Now all of our focus, all of our resources, all of our energy are going into this one location. The future is looking very, very bright,” Imran said. Chapter 11 is “exactly the tool you should be using” when a fundamentally sound business faces extraordinary setbacks, he said. The company employed Subchapter 5 the bankruptcy code’s reorganization rules, which aims to get small businesses through to working on their bounce-back plans within months. “It’s a good way to get yourself back on your feet, keep people employed, and make our creditors more whole,” Imran said. Jeff Quackenbush joined North Bay Business Journal in May 1999. He covers primarily wine, construction and real estate. Reach him at jeff@nbbj.news or 707-521-4256.
