Is downtown still a top destination for a night out? Fort Worth’s bar tabs reveal a shift.
November 15,2024
See full Fort Worth Star-Telegram article by Kate Marijolovic here.
For much of Fort Worth’s history, going back to the notorious saloons of Hell’s Half Acre, downtown has been the place to go to have a good time.
But for those who like to raise a glass — especially one filled with an expensive cocktail — that’s not necessarily the case anymore.
Data for bar-service alcohol sales in Fort Worth reveals a post-pandemic shift in what are arguably the city’s top destinations for entertainment, dining, lodging or just happy hours with friends. Before COVID, downtown establishments raked in the most revenue from alcohol sales. Today, the highest sales are in the Cultural District/West Seventh Street area and the Fort Worth Stockyards, according to a Star-Telegram analysis.
The shift appears to reflect where Fort Worth has seen some of the biggest private investment by developers and entrepreneurs in the past four years. The Cultural District and Stockyards have attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in new projects, trendy restaurants and swanky hotels. While downtown is also seeing growth, including the addition of Le Meridien hotel, which opened in August, the pace hasn’t kept up.
The Star-Telegram looked at alcohol sales in February 2020, the last month of normalcy before COVID, and compared the data to February of this year. We examined the revenue by ZIP codes, which mostly follow the boundaries for our entertainment districts.
While downtown saw a 6% growth in drink revenue between 2020 and 2024, the Cultural District/West Seventh corridor grew by 37%, and the Stockyards by a whopping 109% — largely because of high-end establishments that weren’t around four years ago.
Other parts of the city also saw alcohol revenue growth that outpaced downtown and the Cultural District. In Near Southside, which includes West Magnolia Avenue and the South Main district, more than a dozen new establishments have opened since 2020. Overall revenue from alcohol there has soared 90%.
Alcohol revenue has grown by 45% in the 76109 ZIP code, which includes The Shops at Clearfork and the area around TCU. To the north, the fast-developing Alliance corridor has boomed with 51% more alcohol sales.
Here are the top areas for drink sales in February 2024 across Fort Worth:
Cultural District/West Seventh: $6,738,647
Stockyards: $6,116,139
Downtown: $5,523,235
Clearfork/TCU: $2,418,032
Near Southside: $2,193,104
Alliance (U.S. 287 to Texas Motor Speedway): $1,883,783
How does that compare to February 2020? Sales that month were:
Downtown: $5,206,157
Cultural District/West Seventh: $4,918,186
Stockyards: $2,923,091
Clearfork/TCU: $1,664,200
Hulen area (South of I-20): $1,502,466
I-35N at Loop 820: $1,353,324