Everyone is welcome at Fairmont's newest hometown bar, Stumptown Ales

Jul. 29—FAIRMONT — It's only a little after 3 p.m. on a Friday afternoon but already, Fairmont's new Stumptown Ales location has guests sitting at the bar.

The easy string lighting on the wall makes it a relaxed atmosphere and there's plenty of laughter coming from some camping enthusiasts taking up the stools while employees continue preparing the brewery for other patrons, looking for their own escape into the weekend after a long week at work.

The company's Fairmont location at 306 1/2 Merchant Street in East Side opened about a month ago and serves patrons Thursday through Sunday with hours from three to nine, except on Sunday, when guests can enjoy beer from one to seven. The storefront opened about a month ago, to the delight of local residents.

"I'm excited, we need something like this on Merchant Street in East Side," Mike Talkington, one of the patrons at the bar, said. "A lot of the businesses are more focused on West Side and we don't have much over here, so it's nice to have something like this. It's in walking distance, it's next to the park. You go listen to music, you can come up here. It's nice to have it."

Cindy Robeson, who owns the brewery with her husband Jon, said that out of all the emails from landlords asking them to move into their property, the one from Fairmont stood out the most. The opportunity to help rehabilitate Fairmont's East Side was one they couldn't pass up. Robeson liked that the space is similar in size to their Davis, West Virginia location. It can be a quiet place for people to hang out, drink and socialize instead of a loud and hectic environment.

Part of the hope is that by having Stumptown Ales as an anchor, the rest of the block will follow with their own face-lifts. There's already an ax throwing place next door and the arcade sitting on the other side makes for a good companion as well.

Now that they're part of the community, Robeson said that she's listening to feedback and learning about the town. She loves meeting new people. There's only been really one complaint, which can best be described as a good problem to have.

"I think people want to see us open more, which we would like to do," she said. "We'd like to be open seven days. Eventually. But, it all depends on staffing, and getting all that worked out."

Finding popularity might not be a hard thing for Stumptown Ales to find here.

Sarah Hutson, one of the employees, said that the place already has regulars. The summertime concerts that take place at Palatine Park bring in a lot of pre-concert business. Summer drives a lot of Stump Kolsch ale sales, but Hutson said that with fall on the way she's noticed sales of their Porter, I Barley Knew Her increase.

"People have been so lovely, we've got several folks in the area that just walk over and bring their families," Hutson said. "We have games over here. We've seen several first dates, so we're excited to offer that as an additional place to take someone."

Fairmont Stumptown offers 12 ales on tap, which brewer Josh Stevens helps make. Although no plans are in place for specialty beers like pumpkin ale, Stevens did say they are planning something unique.

"I was talking with Jon the other day about making a new kind of signature brew for the Fairmont location that's similar to some of our hazy IPAs, but a little bit more of a session beer. We worked up a recipe this week, so I'm hoping in the next few weeks to be able to get that one going."

Some limited food is also in the works. Robeson said her husband, Jon, now does pizza making instead of brewing. He makes his own dough and sauce, and they try to sell it several times a week at the location. However, it's far from a mass market operation. Robeson said they can maybe do between 15 to 20 a day. Outside food is welcome since a full restaurant menu isn't planned.

Stumptown Fairmont hasn't had a grand opening celebration yet, but it's very much in the planning. A few more things have to be arranged, but Robeson is hopeful that by late August or September they'll be able to have one.

Part of what makes Stumptown so welcoming is Robeson's focus on inclusivity. She said it's one of the major values that the company stands for. Hutson said that it was a big theme during her job interview. Signs on the bathrooms feature everything from people to space aliens, simply imploring guests to wash their hands after using the toilet. The Robesons really want Stumptown Fairmont to be a hometown bar.

"It's very important for us here that no matter who walks in that door, whether you're a millionaire, or somewhere in between, man or a woman, or you like boys, you like girls, doesn't matter to us," Robeson said. "Everybody's welcome here and I want everybody to feel this is a safe space and a place to have a good time and it really shouldn't matter. We're all people at the end of the day."

Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com