When the Black Sparrow Music Parlor’s owner heard New Year’s Eve would be the last night for the Texas Beer Company’s taproom at the corner of Second and Main Streets, she cancelled some big plans—and made some new ones.
“We had planned on doing a Mystical New Year’s Eve event that we were selling tickets for, and once the Texas Beer Company announced their last day would be that same night, we decided to pivot,” said Shannon Bagent, owner. “We refunded ticket buyers, and we changed to open our doors to the public all night that night and spend our time going back and forth between Black Sparrow and the Beer Company, so we can spend time with them on that last night.”
Though the Texas Beer Company, which will now be focusing on statewide distribution, will be opening a new taproom just down the road at their brewery at 1331 W. Second Street in the spring, Bagent and her partner Rob Snow said they felt like it was important to pay tribute to their longtime across-the-street neighbors.
“We both opened our businesses in 2016,” Bagent said. “We really did that together. It was kind of a ghost town, and we have just come so far together. The night I opened they were here with me, and they hung a bell behind the bar here and they rang that bell before I served my first beer.”
Megan Klein, one of the four founders of the Texas Beer Company, said despite the close proximity of the two locations, TBC and Black Sparrow have always focused on cooperation, not competition, to build the downtown’s vibrancy together.
“I would say that Black Sparrow has been kind of an integral part of the downtown community with us,” Klein said. “From the beginning, we have tried to make downtown a destination that folks would like to visit, and so over the years, we have done a lot of events together, or we will coordinate so that if they have a super big day we are not stepping on their toes or vice versa. So, we have always been good partners.”
Though Snow came on board in 2021 at Black Sparrow, he also noted the great relationship they have had with
TBC. “The Beer Company has been so supportive since we reopened after COVID,” Snow said. “The day I came in they were as supportive as they could be so we wanted to make sure that on their last day as our close neighbor that we were as supportive as we could be back.”
