According to the Sacramento Business Journal, the Southside Park bar and event venue Old Ironsides is being sold to a group of cannabis industry veterans. The deal is in escrow and expected to close on May 1.
Old Ironsides on 10th Street is Sacramento’s oldest bar and music venue. The original family that owned the business was planning their retirement in April 2019 and began searching for new owners. Holy Diver owners Bret Bair, Eric Rushing, and Anthony Paganelli purchased the venue in 2022.
Over the past few months, the venue has mainly only opened for concerts. In the Business Journal coverage, Bair cited existing business and family commitments and hoped new owners would breathe new life into the iconic venue. The incoming operators are husband-and-wife David Spradlin and Haylee Parker and Shawn Samery, Spradlin’s long-time business partner for the past 15 years.
Spradlin is a successful entrepreneur who founded Magnolia Wellness, a cannabis dispensary, in 2019. He then took the CEO role at Perfect Union and remained in that position until 2021. Spradlin and Parker have a joint company called Parker Holdings LLC. Meanwhile, Samery came from a bar-and-entertainment background and previously worked at Folsom’s Powerhouse Pub.
The incoming operators plan to reopen Old Ironsides’s bar once the change of ownership is complete. The team also plans on rolling out a food program once the venue is back up and running. According to the Business Journal, the team purchases the brand, leases, equipment and inventory, and all permits and licenses. Spradlin did not respond to the calls or email requests for comment by What Now Sacramento at the time of this coverage.
