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Stone’s Throw Brewery expands to second tap room at Markham and Kavanaugh

Stone's Throw Brewery is looking to change empty storefronts by opening up its second tap room at the corner of Markham and Kavanaugh.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) – Little Rock is filled with up and coming neighborhoods and one part of town is starting to see some promising growth.

Stifft Station is home to the Oyster Bar and Pizza D’Action. But empty storefronts also line the streets of Markham.

Stone’s Throw Brewery is looking to change that by opening up its second tap room at the corner of Markham and Kavanaugh.

"We had it on our radar for a while but we needed to make sure it was going to be viable,” managing partner Ian Beard said.

Stone's Throw is one of Little Rock's popular microbreweries, opening up its first location in downtown Little Rock five years ago. Beard said it was time to expand.

"Brewing laws were changed a couple years ago to allow smaller breweries to have additional tap rooms and we've been trying to find another location,” he said.

Beard set up a temporary tap room last month in the Stifft Station neighborhood with Pop Up in the Rock - an initiative focusing on parts of town that are underdeveloped.

"The pop up gave us a good feel for neighborhood support and that there was interest for such a thing,” Beard said.

The Pop Up proved to be a success and Stone's Throw felt confident opening up shop.

"Our presence in Stifft Station will also help that location along,” Beard said.

Pop up in the Rock co-chair, Mason Ellis, said Stifft Station businesses have come and gone.

"There's been a few mainstays. Oysters been down here a long time,” Ellis said.

He said its most likely because of heavy traffic that flies down Markham.

Pop Up in the Rock credits much of its success due to temporarily slowing down traffic here at Markham and Kavanaugh. Traffic was decreased from four lanes to two.

"When we took everything down the final Sunday of the event, it was night and day on the traffic just how fast you could tell people are driving through,” Ellisa said.

Ellis said he wants to see the city decrease keep that traffic pattern on Markham, so more businesses, like Stone's Throw, can thrive in Stifft Station.

"We hope we see more businesses and get people out here and walk on the sidewalk and not feel like they're going to be run over by a car,” Ellis said.

Beard said he would like to have the new Stone’s Throw Tap Room open by the end of the year.

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