After more than 1,000 years, this English pub is closing its doors
By Jack Guy, CNN
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Updated:
(CNN) — An English pub that claims to be the oldest in Britain is closing due to financial problems worsened by the pandemic.
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St. Albans, just north of London, has been in business since 793 AD, according to its website.
Now it has closed its doors “after a sustained period of extremely challenging trading conditions,” according to a statement from landlord Christo Tofalli, posted on the pub’s Facebook page on Friday.
“Along with my team, I have tried everything to keep the pub going,” Tofalli wrote. “However, the past two years have been unprecedented for the hospitality industry, and have defeated all of us who have been trying our hardest to ensure this multi-award-winning pub could continue trading into the future.”
Tofalli said trading conditions were “extremely tough” before the pandemic, but the effects of Covid-19 were “devastating” and left the pub struggling to meet its financial obligations.
“It goes without saying I am heartbroken: this pub has been so much more than just a business to me, and I feel honoured to have played even a small part in its history,” he wrote.
Britain’s pub industry was struggling even before the pandemic, as people ditched drinking in pubs for bars, restaurants and their homes.
Between 2008 and 2018, more than 11,000 pubs closed their doors, according to the UK’s Office for National Statistics, reducing the total number by almost a quarter.
The main structure of Ye Olde Fighting Cocks was built in the 11th century and was originally used as a pigeon house, according to the local tourist board.
The pub took its name from the cock fights that were held there in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and Oliver Cromwell reportedly slept one night at the inn during the English Civil War.
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks used to be recognized as the oldest pub in England by Guinness World Records, but the record title is now inactive, a spokeswoman for Guinness told CNN.
“This record was rested in 2000 when it became clear that it was not possible to verify it in full,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.
“Even when we did publish information in this regard in the past, we were never able to state definitively which was the oldest pub in the country, since the age and historical usage of buildings is in many cases uncertain,” she added.
Record holder or not, this may not the pub’s final chapter.
A spokesperson for Mitchells & Butlers, the brewery that owns the premises, said it was working to reopen it.
“We can confirm that sadly our tenants at Ye Old Fighting Cocks have appointed administrators but can reassure locals that this is not the end for the pub,” the spokesperson told CNN in a statement.
“We are currently exploring all opportunities for the site’s future and hope to reopen the pub under new management as soon as possible,” they added.
The UK is home to many historic pubs, including London’s famous Prospect of Whitby riverside tavern.
Established in 1520 and formerly known as the Devil’s Tavern, the pub was a renowned hangout for smugglers, villains and pirates, the latter who traded contraband and sold bodies that had washed up from the Thames river.
Many shopping habits and trends have emerged since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, not the least of which is a significant spike in alcohol purchases. Nationally, Nielsen found a 54% increase in alcohol sales during the week ending March 21, 2020, over the same week in 2019. Meanwhile, online sales during the same period jumped 262% from 2019.
To analyze trends in alcohol purchases throughout the pandemic, online grocery ordering and delivery company Mercato looked at data on orders placed between March 22 and July 31, 2020.
The study looked at a total of 15,002 total orders of alcohol, a representative sample for total alcohol order activity on the platform with a margin of error of <1%. Orders were compiled across 108 unique U.S. zip codes and included 42,695 individually sold units of alcoholic beverages.
Keep reading to find out how much alcohol sales grew, which beverages were bestsellers, and what products were most popular in New York City and Chicago—two early U.S. hot spots for the virus.
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The World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a global pandemic. Mandatory stay-at-home orders followed, beginning with Puerto Rico on March 15 and California on March 19. By March 27, roughly half of the U.S. population was under some kind of lockdown. At the same time, alcohol sales spiked: Between the weeks of March 22 and March 29, liquor sales shot up 204%, wine 200%, and beer 159%.
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Liquor sales for Mercato peaked with a 1,244% increase the week of May 17, 2020, as compared to the week of March 22, 2020. In addition, beer sales grew by 636%.
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Alcohol sales climbed disproportionately from overall grocery bills the week of May 17. These sales as a percentage of total grocery bills grew by 686.9% as compared to the week of March 22.
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That’s right, Corona beer products represent the most popular beer of the coronavirus pandemic, accounting for almost 10% of all alcohol sales between March 22 and July 31, 2020. Corona was followed in popularity by Stella Artois Lager and Modelo Especial beer.
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Bread & Butter Cabernet Sauvignon, Crane Lake Chardonnay (California, 2019), and Bread & Butter Pinot Noir (California) represent first, second, and third in Mercato wine sales between March and July 2020. Each retails for less than $20.
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While whiskey remains the most popular spirit in the world, tequila now represents the second-fastest growing spirit in terms of international sales. It shows in the data, with Patrón Silver tequila topping the list of Mercato’s other top-selling alcohol products.
Second place may surprise some: Hennessy cognac. Cognac has gained in popularity (and sales) in recent years; Hennessy cognac was ranked the most popular liquor in New York state, according to data from social social app Bartendr.
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The ubiquitous spiked seltzer drink’s popularity is here to stay if recent numbers are any indication. White Claw Hard Seltzer occupied four of the top 10 spots for Mercato’s other alcohol sales outside of beer and wine. The most popular flavors? Mango, ruby grapefruit, and black cherry.
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The biggest sales of alcohol in New York City go to the 11206 zip code, containing corners of the Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhoods. The city at large was cast head-first into the pandemic with rapidly climbing case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths in early spring. Residents in the city were among the first in the country to switch completely over to online grocery ordering and delivery.
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Chicago was also thrust into the pandemic early on, with city dwellers taking immediate precautions that included online grocery shopping. The 60647 zip code, containing the neighborhood of Logan Square and a slice of Bucktown, made the most alcohol purchases during Mercato’s data window, followed by Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village (60622), Rogers Park (60626), Lincoln Park (60614), and Uptown/Andersonville/Edgewater (60640).
