By Anna Yoder | Columnist

Several years ago I was sitting in the office of a non-profit when a jovial fellow sauntered in delivering several cases of beverages for an event. No money or checks exchanged hands. He said a warm hello and left the office as quickly as he entered.

At the time I did not know who this darting delivery dude was, but I soon learned the delivery was made by Irv Gable, owner and managing partner of East Street Distributing Company — the company who owns and operates East Street Beer. Irv personally brought the beverages from his store and had a big smile on his face while making the donation. From that point on, every time I would see Irv, he had that same kind smile on his face.

East Street Distributing Company is owned by Irv along with Tim and Mike Baker, Irv’s neighbors. After a career in the Natural Gas Transmission field, Irv, along with Tim and Mike, decided to make a “safe financial investment” by purchasing the well-established Kasunick’s Distributing Company — which was originally founded in 1954.

In October 2016, East Street Beer became a reality for the trio, who primarily sold cases of beer. However, these entrepreneurs knew they had to keep up with the changing times. East Street Beer expanded its selection to offer its customers “increased options” and now sells 12 packs, six and four packs of adult beverages. With the recent changes in the law, East Street Beer also sells selected single cans.

If you are not a beer drinker, East Street Beer still has you covered. In addition to beer, there are numerous other choices of beverages to choose from including seltzers, wine coolers, non-alcoholic beverages, fruit flavored beverages, ciders and yes, even pop. Although East Street Beer is technically a “beer distributor,” Irv — in line with his humor and good nature — playfully claims “we don’t sell beer, we sell fun.”

Irv also does his part to “support local” and has an extensive selection of craft beers that range from IPAs, sours to pilsners and lagers. Irv describes the “drink local boom” as the “future of the beer industry” which he has clearly already embraced. The epitome of a customer-oriented businessman, Irv strives to keep his customers happy by “catering to his regulars” by having their “favorite product in stock.” Besides the very friendly service, I too have benefitted from Irv’s commitment to his customers when I asked Irv if he could locate a hard-to-find beverage. Not only did he find it, it was in stock at his store the following week. Talk about keeping your customers happy!

Irv heartily believes the Northside provides an “opportunity to invest” which in turn can be an opportunity to also “lift up the community.” Irv’s goal is to “build a business within a community and doing it responsibly.” Irv’s investments go beyond beer and include not only the beer distributor building which contains eight apartments but also a garage, four affordable family units and a building which houses a social club. I would say this was a major investment in our community. And these business investments are not the only ones that Irv regularly makes to benefit our community.

Irv’s kindness and generosity aimed at our community by supporting neighborhood events and his fellow small businesses propels him as a good steward of our neighborhood.

In what he describes as the “showcase of the Northside,” Irv is fully committed to supporting the Northside Music Festival (formerly the Deutschtown Music Festival) and helping make it a success. Whether it is donating (and personally delivering) the pallets upon pallets of much needed ice for the festival, supporting the stage locations, donating his time to help set up, or making financial contributions, Irv says its “all hands-on deck” for this community event and he can be seen lending a hand EVERYWHERE.

Irv has participated as one of the business “hosts” for summer’s First Freitag (Friday) which promotes Deutschtown and other Northside businesses. Witnessing the First Freitag at East Street Beer is one example which supports Irv’s claim that he “sells fun.” East Street Beer is one of the places where neighbors and friends gather to hear good music, eat great food, dance, and take in your favorite libation. Great fun for sure!

Gable stands at the entrance of East Street Beer. Through his business, Gable supports many local events, such as Northside Music Festival and First Freitag. Photo by Anna Yoder

Irv also served as a prominent and reliable partner responsible for the vendor tents for past Light Up nights and has sponsored the corn maze at the community Pumpkinfest for kids. At these and other community events Irv is there ready to pitch in with a smile on his face and never shies away from getting his hands dirty.

Irv firmly believes that to be successful, “one must understand and become part of the community fabric.” Through his support of the community events, Irv feels that it helps to “draw people to the [Northside] neighborhood” and gives them an “opportunity to see what we [Northside] have to offer.” By helping at community events and drawing people to the Northside, Irv believes this not only supports his business but other Northside businesses as well. And “uplifting other [fellow] businesses” makes Irv feel better.

I know firsthand that Irv has been there to lend support to other local small businesses. I have referred a couple of small business owners to Irv when they needed a hand with their promotional events and Irv happily helped — no questions asked. That is the depth of his kindness and generosity. Irv also feels that “everyone needs someone to lean on” — and he does it with a smile on his face and a helping hand.

Although Irv’s immense generosity is known among Northsiders, it extends beyond the Northside. Having two children of his own, Miles, 6, and Kelly, 8, it comes as no surprise that one organization which is near and dear to Irv’s charitable heart is Pennies From Heaven. When his own son was admitted to Children’s Hospital, founder Jon Perry discovered there was “no safety net for parents to stay with their children while admitted to the hospital” and decided to launch Pennies from Heaven.

Pennies From Heaven provides economic assistance to families of children who are admitted to UPMC Children’s Hospital. The assistance comes in the form of lunches, overnight bags to mortgage payments and covering lost wages — anything to keep the parent with the child during hospitalization.

Jon Perry explained that Irv discovered Pennies from Heaven while Irv was doing research on charities he wanted to support. And it was Irv who contacted Pennies From Heaven to ask how he could help! Jon Perry found this remarkable in that Irv is one of the very few people that have sought out his charity to become involved — rather than the charity asking for his help. The mission of Pennies From Heaven to help families stay with the hospitalized children is what resonated with Irv.

According to Jon Perry, Irv started out by supporting Pennies from Heaven’s smaller fundraising events. Irv’s support grew to assist with their signature Oktoberfest event which Jon described as a “godsend.” With Irv’s donations and connection to Iron City Brewery, Irv fulfills all their beer needs for this huge outdoor event. Pennies From Heaven has raised $3 million which allows family members to remain with their ill child. Jon describes Irv as “a great guy with a huge heart dedicated to helping children in need.”

So, the next time you want to have fun, take a walk over to East Street and pay Irv a visit.

Thanks Irv, for selling fun and being there for us. You are much more than beer and we are truly grateful.

By the way, it is not surprising that Irv and Mike Sukitch from Part 1 of this column series are good friends. Kindness is infectious and their generosity is part of what binds them as friends.

P.S. No column on Northside beer businesses and community involvement would be complete without mentioning the good works of another Northside beer business — Allegheny City Brewing which was previously featured in the Chronicle’s November 2021 issue.

East Street Beer is located at 807 East St.