The former shipping and receiving area will become a distribution bar

Shipping and Receiving is an unofficially etched place in Fort Worth lore, perhaps best known as the place where now superstar musician Leon Bridges launched his career. But when COVID-19 forced the Near Southside bar to shut down for good, many wondered what would become of the beloved space.

Enter Kyle Bryson and Wallace Owens – two-thirds of the Trident restaurant group that owns Wishbone & Flint and the recently opened Parker County Ice House (their third partner is Chef Stefon Rishel). Trident’s offices are located at 201 S. Calhoun St., the Supreme Golf Warehouse building that Shipping & Rencing used to call home.

Aside from Trident, Bryson and Wallace are also developing dive bars through their business, Two Crazy Fellas. When Shipping & Réception left their space, the duo decided to move into a new concept – Distribution Bar.

Shipping. To receive. Distribution. To find?

Bryson says Distribution Bar will be a separate business outside of Trident, adopting a more relaxed dive bar atmosphere, unlike Wishbone & Flynt’s Amber Room. There will be no food – just craft beer, cocktails, pool tables, and TVs for playing sports.

“It’ll just be your local waterhole… just a cool, cool, inexpensive place to have a cocktail,” says Bryson.

Construction is currently underway in the 4,000-square-foot interior space, which Bryson says will receive an upgrade with new bars, paint, doors and a “grand entrance.” Distribution Bar will keep the outdoor courtyard and share it with The Social Space, an event venue that opens next door.

And, says Bryson, they’re keeping the stage, with the intention of continuing to host live music – and, hopefully, familiar and famous faces.

“The piano [Bridges] I used to play in there, I kept it and bought it so that the piano would be part of our decor, ”says Bryson. “He told me he was going to become one of my regulars.

Bryson expects construction to be completed around October.