Guinness Halethorpe Closure Prompts Nearly 200 Job Losses

Updated, Monday 5:08 p.m.

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — The Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Halethorpe is closing its doors to the public in November, prompting layoffs for nearly 200 workers.

Parent company Diageo North America Inc. will officially close the location Nov. 1, a spokesperson told Patch. Plans are in place to end operations by the end of the year.

The Guinness branch is located at 5001 Washington Blvd.

"This decision follows a careful review of our operations and long-term business priorities," a Diageo spokesperson told Patch. "This was not a decision we made lightly."

"It is not a reflection of the passion, talent, or dedication of our team, nor of the support we have received from consumers and the Baltimore community since we opened our doors in 2018," it added.

Diageo did not say how many workers would be impacted by the closure in the coming months in its announcement, stating its "immediate focus" was assisting employees during the transition.

However, a notice filed by Aramark Campus, LLC, to the Maryland Department of Labor states 174 employees would be laid off effective Nov. 1.

Aramark, a hospitality and facilities management firm, is based at the Halethorpe site.

What's To Blame?

The Diageo firm intends to launch a $250,000 community fund to strengthen the region's "economic opportunity, and the local hospitality industry."

The closure was announced as the Guinness brand experienced increasing operating costs, shifting consumer demand and economic pressures that made it difficult to sustain operations.

Kelly Dudeck, executive director of the Brewers Association of Maryland, told The Banner that "this isn't just a Guinness story."

"I am very worried that we are going to hear of many more in the next 12 months, and these are ones who don’t have sources of a multinational corporation behind them," Dudeck said.

The latest comes three years after the parent company announced in 2023 that it was laying off more than 100 workers.

The Maryland Office of Tourism states the brewery was Guinness' first U.S. branch since the early 1950s.

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