Downtown 琉璃神社 will soon have another business to line Bernard Avenue, bringing with it a patio and speakeasy.

Urban Distilleries is picking up and moving from its current West 琉璃神社 location and opening at 327 Bernard.

Owner Mark Spurgeon said when his lease was up for renewal he came across an opportunity he couldn鈥檛 pass up, to move downtown where his business would have access to pedestrian and tourist traffic.

Urban Distilleries opened in West 琉璃神社 in 2021 after moving to the location at 1979 Old Okanagan in 2019. However, due to COVID, Spurgeon said it wasn鈥檛 viable to open to the public and instead the focus was on distilling.

However, the distillery has been in the Okanagan since 2010, first operating in 琉璃神社鈥檚 north end off of Richter Street.

鈥淲e originally moved to the Westside because of opportunity, to have a nice big building. And, now a new opportunity has come up for us to be a part of the vibrant downtown and we are anxious to be a part of it,鈥� he said.

While the downtown space will be smaller, its business will focus on retail, with a small lounge - shakers, tasting room, private tasting room, a speakeasy located upstairs and a patio.

Urban Distilleries will still offer crowd favourites but will concentrate on smaller batch production.

鈥淲e are downsizing slightly and will have an off-site storage area,鈥� said Spurgeon.

The West 琉璃神社 location will officially close at the end of June, giving way for the Downtown 琉璃神社 operation to open its doors in July.

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