Rudy’s Pizzeria is moving one door down State Street into The World Famous Up & Up Tavern’s space.
Rudy’s owner, Steve Scoggins, bought the Up & Up Tavern — both the building and the business — from Ian Relay this month. Scoggins said the Up & Up space, located at 1234 N. State St., will house both Rudy’s Pizzeria on one side, and a smaller version of the Up & Up Tavern on the other, divided by a wall and connected with an inside doorway. Each business will have separate outdoor entrances.
“We had always had a longstanding joke that someday I’d buy his business, then recently I asked him how serious he was about it,” Scoggins said.
Scoggins needed to leave Rudy’s current location at 1230 N. State St. because of the Bellingham Housing Authority’s redevelopment of the building, which is set to begin in June, he said. He could have chosen to vacate the space temporarily and return after six months, but didn’t want to be out of operation that long, he said. Owning property was also a motivation, and relocating just next door street made sense, he said.
“We hated to leave, but as much as we wanted to stay, and they wanted us to stay, it just wasn’t going to be cohesive,” he said. “This was our option to maintain our survival. We couldn’t afford to be closed for six months. And it’s a good business move.”
Scoggins hopes Rudy’s will be fully moved to the new location by June 15.
