Brix to Open Second Omaha Location at Midtown Crossing
Omaha original Brix is bringing its “complete wine and spirits experience” to Midtown Crossing, Omaha’s award-winning urban development. Set to open in the fall, the new store will be the second Brix location in Omaha.
Designed by owner Dan Matuszek, the innovative Brix concept brings three complimentary businesses together under one roof – a wine and spirits “and more” retail store, an on-premise Wine Bistro, and a state-of-the-art event centre. Brix opened its first store in the Village Pointe shopping center in west Omaha about two-and-a-half years ago. Given its great success, Matuszek said it was time to expand.
“We’d been looking around the Midwest; we’d been looking around Omaha, and all things pointed back to Omaha,” he explained. “We had so many people asking us to put a store in the Midtown area, more specifically a lot of people asking, ‘Why don’t you put a store at Midtown Crossing?’”
The development, said Matuszek, is a perfect fit for the Brix brand.
“The upside of Midtown Crossing is huge. It’s a center on the move, and we want to be in a center that’s on the move,” he said.
The bulk of the Midtown Crossing store is expected to open before Thanksgiving with the kitchen opening a few weeks later. Matuszek said guests will notice a lot of similarities – and a lot of differences -- between the Midtown Crossing and Village Pointe locations.
“You’re still going to have a great premium wine selection, a great beer selection, and a great premium spirits selection. We’ll have the same fantastic single malt scotch selection, almost identical to Village Pointe,” he explained.
One key difference, he said, will be in the layout of the store. Midtown Crossing’s will be more of an “integrated model.”
“You still have the same three components (retail, Wine Bistro and event centre), but they are more integrated into one. There won’t be a separation between the Bistro and the retail store,” said Matuszek.
He continued, “Another key difference is that there will be a lot more emphasis on the food and highlighting the talents of who we think is one of the great young chefs in Omaha, our executive chef Erik Rickard.”
The Bistro in the Midtown Crossing store will also feature a larger bar area for drinks and cocktails, plus 10-15 different premium craft beers on draught – not currently available at the Village Pointe store. Outside, guests will be able to socialize on a huge patio.
“It’ll arguably be one of the biggest and best patios in Omaha when we get finished with it,” said Matuszek. “It’ll have multiple fire pits with capacity for about 150 people.”
The event centre at Brix Midtown Crossing will be slightly smaller than the facility at Village Pointe, but will still include the same amenities that cater to businesses, private social events, wine dinners, beer dinners, and wine, spirits, and beer education. Capacity will be approximately 75 people.
“I’m really excited about the event centre and the opportunity to host events in the Midtown area of Omaha,” said Matuszek. “The proximity to businesses in the area will be key, plus the ability to bring winemakers and the other educational aspects of our business to the eastern part of the city will be great for the customer and for us.”
Brix will be located at 220 S. 31st Ave, Suite 3103, in the space that housed Republic of Couture, which closed its doors yesterday.
“This is fabulous news for Midtown Crossing and fabulous news for those who, understandably, were clamoring for a Brix closer to their homes in Midtown and eastern Omaha. We look forward to an amazing, long-term relationship with Dan Matuszek and the rest of the Brix team,” said Molly Skold, marketing director for East Campus Realty, the Mutual of Omaha subsidiary that owns Midtown Crossing.