Feb 2014 Bar Business Magazine

Taffer talks television, tradeshows and trends in 2014 Toasting Shows: Jon The How-To Publication

BAR BUSINE$$ February 2014

M A G A Z I N E

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Are You

Ready foR Rum? jukebox fuTuReS: tech wine: mArketplAce movement big Six: SAn FrAnciSco

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On Tap February 2014

CONTENTS

18 HOW TO

Beer for the year

22

18

22

26

Brewing Big things

powerful forces

Bar-hopping overseas

We talk to a certified beer expert to find out what’s happening with craft breweries across the country in 2014.

A special 3-part multimedia security series on better understanding the legal use of force on-premise.

An inside look at how to take your bar knowledge across the pond to open a venue in a foreign land.

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February 2014 Bar Business Magazine

1

On Tap

BAR BUSINE$$

CONTENTS

Features 30 A good yeAr? The world of wine on-premise is always a tough one to navigate, so we examine some segment statistics and new technologies that may help.

10

34 lighten up

Departments 4 BAr room drAwl 6 Booze news Jon Taffer tell us about his current TV show, his new TV show, and this year’s tradeshow; ServeEm app gives bartenders a voice; Shiftgig knows what you want.

10 liquid Assets

44 inventory 46 holidAy hAppenings 48 owning up

The latest lighting trend in the nightlife industry fits in with the rustic, repurposed aesthetic sought after by so many venues today.

34

Rum continues to reinvent itself with new flavors and profiles even as some premium brands push the boundaries of affordability.

14 tuning up Both bar owners and hardware providers are challenged to keep pace with the rate of innovation for on-premise music entertainment.

38 Big six A visit to the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco finds us at the newly opened Third Rail. All aboard!

“Bar Business Magazine” (ISSN 1944-7531 [print], ISSN 2161-5071 [digital]) (USPS# 000-342) is published February, April, June, August, October, & December for $45.00 per year and January, March, May, July, September, & November will only be offered in a digital format at no charge by Simmons-Boardman, 55 Broad St 26th Fl., New York, NY 10004. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. Copyright © 2014 Simmons-Boardman. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. No part of the magazine may be reproduced in any fashion without the expressed written consent of Simmons-Boardman. Qualified U.S. bar owners may request a free subscription. Non-qualified U.S. Subscriptions printed or digital version: 1 year US $45.00; Canada $90.00; foreign $189.00; foreign, air mail $289.00.

2 years US 75.00; Canada $120.00; foreign $300.00; foreign, air mail $500.00. BOTH Print and Digital Versions: 1 year US 68.00; Canada $135.00; foreign $284.00; foreign, air mail $384.00. 2 years US $113.00; Canada $180.00; foreign $450.00; foreign, air mail $650.00. Single Copies are $10.00 each. Subscriptions must be paid for in U.S. funds only. For Subscriptions, address changes, and adjustments, write to: Bar Business Magazine, PO Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010. Instructional information in this magazine should only be performed by skilled crafts people with the proper equipment. The publisher and authors of information provided herein advise all reader to exercise care when engaging in any o the how-to activities published in the magazine. Further, the publisher and authors assume no liability for damages or injuries resulting from projects contained herein. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Bar Business Magazine, PO Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010.

2

Bar Business Magazine February 2014

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Bar Room Drawl

By Chris Ytuarte editor-in-Chief

No Rest for the Weary " Well I'm a jitterbug boy, by the shoe-shine, resting on my laurels and my hardys too.”

— Tom Waits, Jitterbug Boy When I think about it, I can’t say it’s easy to come up with a profession in this country in which success is defined as reaching a certain point, kicking back, and resting on one’s laurels (though it seems many politicians have mastered that very approach). In fact, in the bar industry, nothing could be further from the truth.

Long gone are the days when a nightlife business plan looked like this: Open venue, sell booze, make money, retire. It just doesn’t happen that way very often anymore. Hand-me-down pubs that are moneymakers for the same family across generations— despite a static, inadaptable strategy— are few and far between.

Today, the bar owners who can change their game are the bar owners who become game-changers in this industry, and it all starts with a willingness to move forward; you cannot rest on your laurels—or your hardys.

In this issue, alongside our standard stellar coverage of industry trends, technology, and products, we look at a few individuals, a few companies, and a few market segments that simply refuse to kick up their feet and smile about what they’ve already accomplished.

These are the innovators and the forces pushing the game forward.

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Bar Business Magazine February 2014

First, we talk with Jon Taffer, whose work in returning the annual Nightclub & Bar Show to prominence in the industry pales only slightly in comparison to his own continuous endeavors to educate (and entertain) people in and around the bar business with his television shows, both current and forthcoming. With one of the toprated reality shows in America and the industry’s most important tradeshow under his belt, he simply refuses to stagnate.

Then we look at a company like TouchTunes, working in a world of on-premise music and entertainment that seemingly reinvents itself every decade through lightning-speed advancements and new ideas. On the forefront, TouchTunes does not simply sit back and admire its past and present work; instead, it innovates. And even tody we anticipate an announcement at next month’s Amusement Expo that will prove once again how this company stays ahead of the curve and is always moving forward.

And finally we look at two of the more traditional segments of our industry, the rum category and the physical bar itself, only to find a giant like Malibu making waves with new offerings that keep pace with the newcomers and premium brands making splashes these days. And we visit a pair of proprietors in San Francisco who are looking to prove that what is old can be new again as they open a beautiful new venue.

The core of this business—liquor and bars—is always reinventing itself. No laurels here. No hardys either. No rest for the weary.

BAR BUSINE$$ MAGAZINE

February 2014, Vol. 7, No. 2 Bar Business Magazine (ISSN 1944-7531) is published by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation 55 Broad St 26th Fl., New York, NY 10004 executive offices

President and Publisher Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. Associate Publisher Arthur J. Sutley 212-620-7200; fax: 212-633-1863 asutley@sbpub.com editorial

Editor-in-Chief Chris Ytuarte 212-620-7223; fax: 212-633-1863 cytuarte@sbpub.com art

Creative Director Wendy Williams wwilliams@sbpub.com Art Director Sarah Vogwill svogwill@sbpub.com production

Corporate Production Director Mary Conyers mconyers@sbpub.com circulation

Circulation Director Maureen Cooney mcooney@sbpub.com advertising sales

Art Sutley 212-620-7247; fax: 212-633-1863 asutley@sbpub.com circulation department

800-895-4389 Bar Business Magazine is published monthly.

All rights reserved. Nothing herein may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher.

To Purchase PDF files of covers, layouts or hard copy reprints, please call Art Sutley at 212-620-7247 or email asutley@sbpub.com.

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Booze News

I

f you ask Jon Taffer (and we did), he’ll tell you that 2014 is shaping up to be a very good year—for his popular SPIKE TV program Bar Rescue, for his new reality show just starting up production, for the annual Nightclub & Bar Show this March in Las Vegas, and mostly, for the industry to which he has dedicated all of these projects—and himself for over 30 years—the bar business.

“I think the industry is in a much better place now,” says Taffer. “We’re starting to make money again; we’re starting to see promotions again; it’s a good time. Of course it could still be better, but I think it’s a good time.”

6

BarBar Business Business Magazine MagazineFebruary February 2014 2014

Jon Taffer Is Ready To Roll

And those good times, for Taffer and his growing collection of nightlife endeavors, will continue this year.

For starters, his hit television show, Bar Rescue, is enjoying its best ratings yet. “Most reality shows start to dip after 20 episodes, and certainly by 30 episodes,” says Taffer. “But in our 48th episode we had the highest ratings in the show’s history. That’s very flattering. We really had a breakout season this year. There are days when we’re the numberthree cable show on all of Sunday. We’re shooting four more episodes to finish up this season before we come back and do 20 more in the summer.” www.barbizmag.com

Once filming for this season finishes in February, however, Taffer will jump right into production on his newest project, a restaurant finance show called The Hungry Investor. “It will feature myself, John Besh, who is a James Beard chef out of New Orleans, and Tiffany Derry, who is an Iron Chef out of Texas, and the three of us are partners who travel around the country looking for restaurants to invest in,” explains Taffer. “We might find, for example, that we want to invest in steakhouses. We’ll go to a city and find two steakhouses that are for sale and we’ll start to crosscompare and cross-test the two different businesses to determine which one is the better investment.

time slot, trying to steal the audience of Bar Rescue. And the show didn’t even rate. In fact, the week that show ran we had the highest ratings in the history of Bar Rescue. So their broadcast against us failed, and they moved it to Tuesday, and then to Wednesday, and now it’s on Saturday night at 11:00 p.m., which is the graveyard for TV shows. So they tried to compete with us, but none of them have succeeded so far.”

The epicenter of Taffer’s business ventures remains the nightlife industry, and he is well aware that his stable of entertainment endeavors can only thrive if the industry in which they are based does too. His continuing growth and expansion of the annual Nightclub & Bar Show in Las Vegas

"

I think the industry is in a much better place now.

It's a good time.

Of course it could still be better.

"

“We’ve created something called the Invest Test, which is where we determine the elasticity and potential of the business and other factors. And what happens at the end of the show is sometimes one partner likes a deal and another partner likes the other deal, so we go into a boardroom, close the door, and it becomes very Shark Tank-like. We’re each lobbying for the business we want and we argue all of the elements, and at the end of the show, we either choose to make an investment or not. If we choose to invest, we put a certain amount of money in the restaurant, and at the very end you get a 90-day update as to how that investment worked out.”

With The Hungry Investor, there may be some similarities to the kind of environments in which Taffer finds himself on Bar Rescue, he's not worried about comparisons to his original show. “It’s very different from Bar Rescue because it’s much more business- and investment-oriented,” he says.

“It allows me to show myself as a businessman, not just as a bar man. If I could describe it this way, I think it’s a cross between Hell’s Kitchen, Bar Rescue, and Shark Tank.”

Naturally, Taffer's success with Bar Rescue has prompted other networks to greenlight similar programs, but for the most part, Taffer takes it all in stride, recognizing it as part of the traditional television landscape. “I see it as a tribute,” he says. “It doesn’t bother me at all. We don’t look at it as a competitive thing.”

But don’t be fooled. Taffer’s famous edge—a staple of his Bar Rescue persona—remains sharp. “The Food Network launched their version of a bar show, and out of all the hours of the week, they chose to premiere their show in my www.barbizmag.com

(March 24-26, 2014) provides real-life bar owners and restaurant groups the chance to improve their business offcamera in many of the same ways that his TV subjects do.

This year, the tradeshow is back in a big way.

“I’ll use three words to describe it: Off the charts,” says Taffer. “Our new-exhibitor activity is up by around 30%. And what’s fascinating is, we have 292 first-time companies at the show this year, amongst the hundreds of regular ones. So there is a lot of innovation at this year’s show—new technology companies, new spirits companies, all sorts of emerging products. And that is really good to see. It speaks to the economy. It speaks to the fact that people are investing in new products and coming to trade shows with these new products. Three years ago, in a recession, that new product activity and these emerging companies dropped off a little because the investments weren’t being made. It’s really nice to see that level of activity return.”

There will be some 77 educational programs available to attendees, hosted by the best minds in the industry. And of course there will be parties and networking opportunities all week at Vegas venues like Marquee, X/S, and most notably, the Bud Light Hotel. As another sign of the resurgence of the show, Anheuser-Busch will return after a two-year absence to transform the Hard Rock Hotel into the Bud Light Hotel, an investment of over $1 million by the beer giant in the 2014 Nightclub & Bar Show.

“That speaks to where the show is at, and it speaks to the overall excitement level around it this year,” says Taffer.

“And I’ll put my neck out—personally, I think it’ll be the best show ever.”

February 2014 Bar Business Magazine

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Booze News New ServeEm App Helps Bartenders Spread the Word

R

arely do bartenders have the chance to promote their shifts via anything more than word-of-mouth. But a new smartphone app called ServeEm finally puts the power in their hands to push the word out there, grow their customer base, and even show owners which bartenders are pulling in the big crowds.

As a tool for both consumers and bar staff, users will be able to see which local bartenders in a 20-mile radius have posted about their upcoming shifts. Meanwhile, a separate function allows those bartenders to manage their own profiles, post to the local news feed, and check on their feedback from patrons.

“This app is designed to enhance the bar experience for patrons, bartenders, and bar owners alike,” says founder

Frank Farrington. “For customers, all bars within 50 miles that are active in the ServeEm database will be listed on your screen.

The bars will be ordered based upon proximity using the GPS on your phone to determine which bars are closest to you. Once you choose a location, bartenders from that venue would pop up based upon their scheduled hours.”

Each bartender creates a profile with a short blurb about themselves, their favorite quote and hobbies, and the option to provide their specialty drink or drink of choice. Patrons can leave a short 100-character comment and an objective rating about their experience with any bartender.

“Users also have the ability to Tap-In, which allows the bartender to know that you visited the bar tonight to see them,” says Farrington. “This also provides the bar owner with the ability to track patrons that come in based upon who’s behind the bar.”

The ServeEm app is now available for download.

Shiftgig Says Industry Workers Seek Deeper Engagement with Brands

S

hiftgig.com, the premier online community for the service industry, recently announced the results from its nationwide member survey, which indicated that a strong majority of bartenders, servers, and bar managers are not only influenced by beer and spirits brand marketing, but also welcome it.

The survey, which was distributed to Shiftgig’s community of service industry professionals, showed that 94% of bartenders, servers, and bar managers are more likely to personally use and recommend to their business customers those beer and spirits brands that actively engage with them. Moreover, 82% responded that they wanted engaging, entertaining, and educational content from beer and spirits brands.

“Beer and spirit brand engagement with the service industry is proving not only effective but desired,” said Eddie Lou, CEO of Shiftgig. “Due to the influential nature of industry professionals, building brand awareness on a popular platform like Shiftgig gives marketers an opportunity to reach an exponentially greater audience.”

With over 650,000 user profiles and more than 15,000 businesses posting job listings, Shiftgig provides the largest platform in the United States for enabling engagement between beer and spirits brands and the service industry. For information on how your brand

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Bar Business Magazine February 2014

can engage with the influential bar and nightlife industry on Shiftgig.com, contact Matt Richards at mrichards@shiftgig.com.

Additional survey findings included the industry’s preferred themes for content delivery, which were ranked in the following order: 1) information about new brand product launches 2) educational opportunities about beer and spirits brands 3) monthly online contests 4) video that brings a brand to life 5) promotion of brand-sponsored local events

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Come see us at Nightclub and Bar March 25 & 26, Booth #513

music. photobooth. karaoke. mobile.

Liquid Assets

Give ‘em a Rum foR TheiR money Despite its humble ancestry, the rum category is in the midst of a renaissance that has seen some fancy formulas hit the market—complete with sticker-shock price points.

But continuing flavor innovations from major brands, premium offerings, and consumer-driven demand are the true indicators that rum is for real. By Chris Ytuarte 10

Bar Business Magazine February 2014

www.barbizmag.com

Forecasts call for rum growth to reach 156 million cases between 2013-2018, an increse of 3.8% per year.

F

rom Caribbean sugarcane fields came rum, a fabled favorite of pirates and island-hopping expatriates in Latin America in the 1800s. Today, a treasure chest of options awaits those who would venture into the category, skull-and-crossbones not required. Whether it’s premium sipping rums, new flavor innovations, or wildly expensive varietals worthy of a few gold doubloons, there’s something for everyone in 2014.

From its humble beginnings, rum has become a global spirit. Despite worldwide volumes falling slightly by 0.4% in 2012, according to International Wine & Spirit Research (IWSR), the category is projected to see 17% volume growth by 2016, to 1.7 billion liters, as predicted by

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consumer research firm Euromonitor, and rum volumes in Asia will jump by 30% by that time. Perhaps coincidentally, Tanduay Asian Rum was awarded “Best In Class” at last year’s Rum Renaissance festival.

“With nearly 160 years of heritage, Tanduay’s intriguing flavor is well recognized in its origin, the Philippines, and throughout Asia,” says Steve Raye, Managing partner of Brand Action Team, Tanduay’s marketing/PR agency. “Now, U.S. rum aficionados alike can enjoy the silky smooth and complex tastes of both blends.”

The international marketplace for rum will actually grow at a faster pace than locally produced spirits over the next five years, according to the IWSR Forecast Report 2013-2018. Imported rum’s growth will continue at the same rate as in the recent past, reaching a compound annual growth rate of 3.8%. Total overall volumes will amount to 156 million cases, of which 34 million cases will be imported rum.

These types of numbers would seem to indicate that, in order to truly keep pace with growth in the category, a rum manufacturer—even one as established as Malibu—may need to innovate and embrace marketplace trends beyond simple sugarcane to examine new flavors and premium offerings. This month, rum giant Malibu released Malibu ® Rum Sparkler, combining Malibu rum with coconut water, infused with refreshing bubbles.

“The explosive growth of coconut water tells us that coconut is still a very relevant flavor,” says Josh Hayes, Senior Brand Manager at Malibu. “So this is a way for us to take a Malibu consumer who has been with us for a while and trade them up. It’s priced slightly premium to regular Malibu, and it’s all about a new, refreshing way to try Malibu again for the first time.”

Malibu Rum Sparkler’s blend of coconut water and light bubbles makes a refreshing cocktail for customers looking for a taste of summer anytime. Once popped open, it can be served chilled and straight in a flute, or mixed into a cocktail. Available in coconut and peach flavors, this new offering comes in a Champagne-style bottle, complete with a cork.

“The idea, at first, is to target rooftop lounges and Vegas pools—places that have a nice open-air space,” says Hayes. “If you have a cabana, you’re probably our target.

And once summer rolls around we’ll make sure we expand that and focus on places that do solid outdoor business.”

Combining a unique flavor profile with some sparkling effervescence, Malibu Rum Sparkler also touches on the notion of up-selling customers and encouraging premium consumption on-premise whenever possible. As the U.S. creeps out from under the recession, consumer habits indicate that high-end spirits are coming back.

According to IWSR, more than 50 million nine-liter cases of premium and above spirits (retail price $20 and above) were sold in the U.S. in 2012, an increase of 8.5% from 2011. This represents one of the strongest growth years on record, and the $20-plus sector now accounts for over one-in-four bottles in the U.S. market—impressive for an industry that, just a few years ago, stared into the eyes of a consumer base weary of spending top dollar.

February 2014 Bar Business Magazine

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Liquid Assets Angostura Legacy, the world’s most expensive rum.

The Real McCoy Rum continues to expand its portfolio with new barrel-aged expressions.

And that trend is set to continue, according to the IWSR Forecast Report 2013-2018, with the premium and above spirits market expected to approach 70 million cases by 2018. The total spirits market is forecast to grow by 24 million cases over this period—with the majority of this growth coming from premium spirits. In the rum category specifically, the premium and above segments are forecast to outperform lower price segments.

In response to such growing popularity, Flor de Caña, the award-winning, Slow-Aged ™ rum of Nicaragua, recently launched a new bottle design. Flor de Caña has seen double-digit growth each year over the past decade, is now available in 40 countries, and was on track to sell more than one million cases in 2013. “The new look of Flor de Caña was designed to elevate the value of the brand and attract a wider global audience,” said Robert Collins, Managing Director, Flor de Caña. “It showcases the brand as unique and super premium—exactly what we need to appeal to our growing customer base around the world.”

With such category expansion, it comes as no surprise that 2013 was witness to some impressively priced rum products, considering market trends and consumer spending habits. Rum giant Bacardi introduced its Facundo Collection, a series of four sipping rums priced between $45 and $250. Tiburon Rum, released just last month, is premium-aged by a master blender at Travellers distillery in Belize and is the only premium rum from Belize available in the U.S. For now, it can only be found in the Chicago area.

Real McCoy Spirits Corp., makers of The Real McCoy Rum, expanded its portfolio in late 2013 to include two new barrel-aged expressions: a 3-year-aged and a 12

Bar Business Magazine February 2014

12-year-aged rum. The two products join the 5-year-aged mark introduced earlier in the year. All three rums hail from Foursquare Distillery in Barbados, overseen by Master Distiller and Rum Hall of Fame inductee Richard Seale.

“Through the initial introduction of the 5-yearaged and now the 3- and 12-year-aged rums, we maintain the same uncompromised standards as he did over 90 years ago—producing unadulterated and handcrafted spirits worthy of The Real McCoy name,” says Bailey Pryor, President and CEO of Real McCoy Spirits.

But if you really want to break the bank, these three bottles will definitely give you a rum for your money: The Brugal Papa Andres Rum, a “very limited” release of just 500 bottles, carries a retail price of $1,500. Appleton Estate 50-Year-Old Jamaica Rum, with only 800 bottles available worldwide and just 70 of those coming to the U.S. market, sells for a cool $5,000 per bottle. And at the top of the list you’ll find Legacy by Angostura, created by Angostura of Trinidad to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the independence of Trinidad. Only 20 decanters will ever be released, and each carries a price tag of $25,000, making it the world’s most expensive rum.

Like we said, rum is for real.

Flor de Caña has launched a new bottle design in response to its growing popularity.

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Sipping the finest Rums with Sfiro Sfiro is the world’s first purified ice sphere designed for a premium drinking experience. It addresses a void in the beverage industry as a pure, tasteless, and odorless ice product that eliminates contaminants and impurities originating from on-premise ice.

Slightly larger than a racquetball, Sfiro presents elegantly in the glass with a unique crystal clarity, free of air bubbles and imperfections. The product has no taste and melts at significantly slower rates than traditional cubes. This is due to its unique surface-area-to-volume advantages as a single large sphere.

Because it is slow to melt, Sfiro provides less dilution to better preserve the integrity of the spirit. It complements crafted cocktails and high-end, single-pour spirits, such as single malts, 18-year-old scotch, and the finest rums.

Sfiro arrives as a pre-packaged container of purified water that is filled and sealed at a bottling plant. Elebev’s proprietary purification and packaging process enables Sfiro to freeze flawlessly with unmatched clarity. To access the ice, the single-use outer container is removed via a

simple twisting motion and then the empty container is recycled. The resulting ice sphere may then be served into a glass without need for physical contact, protecting the ice from contamination.

With a freezing time of six hours, all water used for Sfiro products is locally sourced and distilled. To find out more, check out www.Sfiro.com

Beach BuBBles 3 parts Malibu Rum Sparkler 1 part pineapple juice 1/2 part simple syrup Dash fresh lime juice Build in a chilled flute glass.

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February 2014 Bar Business Magazine

13

Tuning Up

Advancements in on-premise entertainment— specifically at the jukebox—have been fast and furious over the last decade, challenging not only providers but also bar owners to keep up with the rapid pace that today’s consumers demand and expect. By Chris Ytuarte

Staying ahead of the Curve W hen you really think about it, not too long ago your jukebox was physically spinning CDs. Perhaps you can even recall them spinning vinyl records, and if so, congratulations on your long, long career in the bar business. But since the day we hit Y2K, the lightning speed with which jukebox technology and on-premise entertainment options have morphed and advanced is really quite amazing. Gone are the vinyl platters, replaced by digitized music, jukebox photography, and live event streaming, just to name a few—and all conceived at a rather rapid pace.

“Things have been happening faster, for sure,” agrees Marc Felsen, Vice President of Corporate Marketing for

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Bar Business Magazine February 2014

TouchTunes. “The primary reason, as far as TouchTunes is concerned, is that we are not going to let technology in this space pass us by—and in passing us by, thereby pass the entire industry by.”

That kind of mission statement has put TouchTunes at the forefront of modern jukebox innovation on-premise, having introduced over the past few years its PhotoBooth and Karaoke platforms, a powerful mobile app, and most recently TouchTunes Presents, which in 2014 aims to stream major music events and concerts to customer locations. All of these advancements—and those to come this year (TouchTunes will make a major announcement about a new program at next month’s Amusement Expo in Las Vegas)—are part of the company’s continuous efforts

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to stay in touch with consumers and ahead of the curve for their locations.

“Consumer electronics and consumer gadgets and their social interaction has all been changing very fast over the last five or ten years, and we need to keep up with that,” says Felsen. “We can’t just assume that what was good for the last 20 years or 50 years is going to be good for the next five. Things are changing much too fast for that. And that’s how industries get left behind. ” In fact, just last month, Megatouch LLC announced it would cease all development and production of its coin-op touchscreen terminals and associated hardware after 35 years in business. The Megatouch Live, ML-1 terminal, and ION software updates are all being discontinued.

“For some amount of time, there has been waning www.barbizmag.com

marketing demand for Megatouch hardware and software,” CEO Mike Maas told RePlay Magazine, noting that revenues had fallen “well below what it costs to develop, maintain and support the products. We’ve been dreading this day, but this is the end of Megatouch as we know it.”

While there are surely many factors leading to such a decision, especially considering a three-decade run of success for the Megatouch gaming systems, consumer experience and expectations require companies to stay aware and react to the changing needs of their customers to hopefully avoid such a fate.

“That is not something we want to have happen in our space, and we work very hard to keep ourselves moving forward and being not just up-to-speed with technology February 2014 Bar Business Magazine

15

Tuning Up

“There is more of [Tech] gap beTween your 40-year-old and 21-year-old cusTomer Than ever. our producTs are righT for ThaT enTire audience.” but ahead of that curve,” says Felsen. “We look at what’s happening technologically and how we need to adapt, but also what’s happening socially that we need to be aware of. How are people behaving differently? Not just our 30and 40- and 50-year-old customers, but our 21- and 22and 25-year-old customers, because there is more of a gap between them then there used to be. There are different expectations there. And it’s our challenge to make sure that our products and services are right for that entire audience. And that’s what has been driving us.”

TouchTunes, by all means, had a strong 2013. Felsen cites growth in the company’s location network and expansion of their new services throughout that

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Bar Business Magazine February 2014

collective. Yet for 2014, “we’re looking at the next wave of innovation from TouchTunes,” he says. “Overall, our goal is to provide the best music service that we can, and the best music service available, from a consumer point of view—finding the music they want and making it an engaging experience and making it relevant through the on-screen experience both at the jukebox and on mobile devices—and to make it a positive growth engine for our customers and for the locations, where they are able to grow revenue through the use of the music service.”

The company hit a lot of those goals in 2013, with its Virtuo digital jukebox becoming the flagship hardware upon which innovative platforms like PhotoBooth, Karaoke, and the TouchTunes mobile app operate in creating a broad, interactive experience for end-users.

Felsen recognizes that most bar owners may night have the time to stay ahead of the technology. “Our value proposition is that consumer sentiment and their expectations of what they want when they go out is changing very quickly,” says Felsen. “And it’s hard for a location to keep up on their own. So our job is to always be

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innovating and to be thinking about what is right for a consumer; what are the different choices that will make them feel like they’re having an experience that integrates with the rest of what they’re doing in their social lives and with their friends when they’re out? Our value proposition is this: Let us do the innovation and you can benefit from those efforts as a location.”

At the core of any such integration into consumer life on-premise, of course, is the ubiquitous smart phone.

TouchTunes has made great efforts, through its own branded mobile app, to bring each client location into that world regardless of their own shortcomings when it comes to an online presence.

“We tell our locations that they should be looking at ways to become more mobile-enabled,” says Felsen. “A lot of locations now have Wi-Fi but they’re not really participating—they don’t have their own apps or anything else that makes them a mobile-enabled location.

But our app is their app. When someone comes in and pulls up the TouchTunes app and uses it to interact with The TouchTunes mobile app allows customers to the jukebox, that makes that location special and makes it engage with your venue’s music via their phone. a fun place to go. Your customers can listen to music in a cool new way and they can see what’s playing, who else is The on-premise music and entertainment scene there, build their own playlist, etc. All that functionality continues to be a blur. “That’s the reason TouchTunes is enabled on the app—and the location becomes part of tries to innovate as quickly as we do, so we can stay that. That’s a big selling point. The bar can participate in the customer’s desire to interact in general—with d-TGf-prt-BarBusiness-Feb2014-halfpgAd-v1.pdf 1 1/16/14 ahead 3:52 PM of that fast-moving curve,” says Felsen.

Are you ready to keep up with them? everything they do—using their mobile device.”

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February 2014 Bar Business Magazine

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How To:

Bring In the Best Beers

Tapping inTo BRews Curating the Best Beer Menu for Your Bar Program

As the craft beer movement accelerates and hundreds of new brews come to market annually, it is both thrilling and challenging to build and maintain a beer program in 2014. Bar Business Magazine sat with Ryan Scott, BJCP Beer Judge and expert, in an effort to demystify the ever-growing beer market. From building a successful bar program to finding the best brews, Ryan breaks it down for us. By Deb Harris

R

yan Scott, living in Southern California, (a major hub of the craft beer movement), and being a nationally recognized beer judge, what are your favorite up-and-coming breweries? Are any producing beers you think would be most inspiring this season?

Most of my favorite “newer” breweries in the Southern California region have actually been growing and expanding

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Bar Business Magazine February 2014

for several years. The Bruery in Orange County crafts amazing spiced and unique beers year-round; their Autumn Maple (brewed with yams, molasses, maple syrup, and spices) is extremely popular in the fall. Full-Malted Jacket and Kilgore Stout from Beachwood BBQ in Long Beach are both GABF award winners that are hearty options for the winter. I am also continually impressed by Societe Brewing in San

Diego; their IPAs are some of the best around and their sour/barrel aging program is currently in development. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention The Alchemist in Vermont, a small 15-barrel brewery that started canning their flagship Heady Topper IPA in 2011; this beer is currently rated the #1 beer in the world by Beer Advocate reviewers and its limited supply has made it coveted by beer enthusiasts everywhere.

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How often would you recommend a bar revisit their beer menu?

Beer selections should be driven by the business model and patron preferences for any given location. If it is the goal of a bar to be known as savvy and beercentric, the management should be constantly reviewing their beer offerings and ensuring an evolving menu that takes into account seasonal offerings, limited/small batch selections, and showcases from local/regional breweries.

For a location that does not review their day-to-day selections frequently do you recommend they stay current and interesting by offering seasonal beers on their menu?

In general, beer menu selections should incorporate beers that are popular for the season. Even large restaurant/bar chains typically have at least one or two “rotating” or “seasonal” handles they offer in addition to their day-to-day menu. For example, pumpkin and spiced beers are very popular in the fall and winter, whereas lighter alcohol beers with fruit-like and/or wheat characteristics (i.e. Belgian Saison, Hefeweizen) are usually more appealing in the hotter spring and ummer months.

Speaking of seasonal offerings, could you recommend three beers for each season?

WIntEr: St. Bernardus Christmas Ale, Jolly Pumpkin noel De Calabaza, Deschutes the Abyss.

SPrIng: rogue Dead guy Ale

"Beer selections should be driven by the business model and patron preferences for any given location," says BJCP Beer Judge Ryan Scott. (and their soon-to-market 7 Hop IPA), Fantome Saison, Sierra nevada ruthless rye.

SummEr: trumer Pilsner, three Floyds gumballhead, new glarus raspberry tart.

FAll : Southern tier Pumpking, terrapin Big Hoppy monster, Port Brewing High tide IPA. Do you think each region in the U.S. can treat their beer selections similarly or should they cater to different tastes in different geographic locations throughout the year?

In my experience, even warm-weather bars in California (i.e., O’Brien’s Pub and Hamilton’s tavern) and Florida (i.e. redlight redlight) can successfully acquire and spotlight amazing winterthemed beers from local breweries and national distributors. Overall, outlets really need to pay attention to how interested their customers might be in the different styles of beer that are available throughout the year. You are likely to see more significant changes to the winter menu in craft beer bars (regardless of location) as compared to more mainstream outlets like chain restaurants. I will still evaluate each beer in these same sensory areas, but there is more flexibility and the emphasis is on overall flavor impressions, including balance and degree of drinkability.

With so much market exposure, which have become your go-to beers and favorite breweries?

Stone Brewing (the 10th largest craft brewery based on 2012 sales) and CEO greg Koch have been leading the charge in craft beer for over 17 years; their Imperial russian Stout and Old guardian Barleywine are excellent beers for the cold. Some of my other favorite breweries include Avery,

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February 2014 Bar Business Magazine

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How To: Founders, Firestone Walker, Southern Tier, The Bruery, Three Floyds, and Cigar City Brewing.

San Diego is considered one of the top craft beer cities in the country (with 80+ active breweries and 30+ more in development). These breweries are known for their big, hoppy India Pale Ales (IPAs), so I am never too far

away from some of my local favorites such as Green Flash West Coast IPA, Ballast Point Sculpin, Societe Pupil, Alpine Nelson, and Alesmith IPA. I also like to target flavorful and easy-drinking “session” ales (usually <5%abv) such as New Belgium’s Shift Pale Lager, Anchor Steam, and Boddington’s Pub Ale.

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Bar Business Magazine February 2014

How would you recommend a location challenge its patrons successfully with new brews from lesser-known breweries?

The key is education. If outlets are serious about growing their reputation as a beer locale, it is critical that the people serving the beer have a solid knowledge base in this area. For those servers and waitstaff with less experience, formal training in beer education can be attained through the Cicerone Certification Program (the beer equivalent to wine’s sommelier program). The Cicerone program offers a basic foundation (Certified Beer Server) and increasingly more involved levels of training (Certified and Master Cicerone levels). A beer-educated staff is then in a better position to educate patrons about the nuances and differences between menu offerings, as well as dispel misconceptions about beer (i.e. that darker beers are heavier/ stronger than lighter beers). The most effective way to challenge less experienced patrons is to identify what specific characteristics an individual likes about their preferred beer. Based on preferences, staff can then suggest newer/different beers, ideally in the format of tasters or small flights, to increase the odds of finding a beer that is pleasing to that individual’s palate.

Any new trends in beer brewing?

One trend I see is how breweries and beer outlets are engaging their customers. Most Americans live within ten miles of a brewery, and the ability to support local business is appealing for many beer enthusiasts. The emphasis on social marketing and social media also cannot be understated. From Facebook and Twitter to live webcams of the current beer list, beer-centric outlets need to provide ongoing information to their customers.

Ryan Scott is a craft beer enthusiast, award-winning homebrewer, and Certified BJCP Beer Judge who resides in San Diego, CA. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @SDBeerInsider

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How To:

d the Understan Legal Use of Force

MaY The

Force Be WiTh You In Part 1 of a special 3-part multimedia series, we take a look at the sometimes stressful security practices related to the legal use of force on-premise. By Robert C. Smith, CEO, Nightclub Security Consultants

T

his is a scary topic for so many reasons. It’s never going to feel completely comfortable for an owner to put their bar or club’s insurance policy in the hands of a bouncer. But often times, in our world, that’s exactly what we do when we ask our guards to keep our venues safe.

I’ve always considered the bar or club in-house security guard the equivalent to cops on the street. We expect cops to deal with drug dealers and street thugs; we demand they patrol our streets to keep us safe and prevent random crimes.

Don’t we place the same demands on our in-house guards as they work in and around our venues?

If we expect our security team to handle problems in our bar or club, and on those rare occasions, use force on a guest, why aren’t we teaching our team everything we can

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Bar Business Magazine February 2014

related to the proper use of that force? I’m hoping this unique multimedia approach will help give your team a better understanding of this issue.

Let me shift gears and explain how we’re going to deliver so much information regarding this serious topic. We’re working with Bar Business Magazine Editor, Chris Ytuarte, to offer a diverse 3-part series in a print magazine format, as digital media, and an as in-person training.

Part 1 of this series is what you’re about to read. It will contain some of the reasons, in my opinion, that employees use excessive force and how they can avoid the most common situations that require such force.

Part 2 of this series will be posted on the Nightclub Security Consultants website blog and will be discussed in our Nightclub Security Podcast, where we will cover the

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criminal and civil liability that is raised when an employee uses excessive force. We’ll also touch on how to lessen liability with some simple steps and tools.

Our series will conclude with Part 3 in Las Vegas at the 2014 Nightclub & Bar Show on Monday, March 24th at 2:10pm when I present a one-hour seminar entitled Understanding Legal Use of Force. This one-hour seminar will quickly touch on Parts 1 and 2, but will also fully cover legal language regarding what might be considered use of force, defending force, documentation of force, and police responses to use of force in a bar or club. For those of you that attend my seminar in Vegas on that Monday, you’ll also walk out with a Certificate of Completion.

So let’s get started. Why do employees use excessive force?

There are several possible reasons, but let’s stick to the four most common: The guard is a naturally aggressive person. When they tell a guest to move on or to stop some sort of minor policy violation, at the first resistance from the guest— BAM!—the guard is putting the guest in a headlock and tossing him out a side door, or worse.

The guard is caught off-guard. While trying to lightly move a drunk guest out of a doorway or after giving simple requests to a group of semi-intoxicated young guys, the guests lightly push the guard away and—BAM!—the guard is seeing red. They never expected the guests to lash out at them, they’re caught off guard or didn’t properly evaluate the guests, and in an instant, the employee blows up and becomes the aggressor.

The guard loses control. In this case, the guard has a customer in a bear hug or they’ve got a guest on the ground.

Everything is cool and the guard is in total control, but the guest doesn’t follow their commands and keeps resisting and cursing at the guard. The guard loses control and goes too far with his arm bar or worse.

The guard doesn’t know what to do. Most bouncers, if taught the rules, if given the opportunity to learn these rules, and if held accountable for their actions, will do a better job.

If a guard believes they can just punch a drunk guest in the face after he or she pushes the guards hand away, that’s a problem. If a guard believes they can aggressively shove an intoxicated, rude guest backwards when he or she doesn’t move away fast enough, that’s a problem.

Drunks I think we can all safely admit that normally, a sober guest isn’t causing problems in your bar or club. Yes, on a rare occasion there might be an issue with non-drinking guest, but most bar or club fight suspects or victims are overintoxicated to some extent; they are drunk.

Here’s an odd question for you: What’s the “job” of a drunk in your bar? Think about drunks you’ve seen and think about what they do. Here’s a small list; Cry, yell, stagger, fall, sleep, throw up, urinate, bother other guests, get aggressive, fight, etc. Think about it—the “job” of nearly all drunks is to act inappropriately. They don’t mean anything by it; most of

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Most bouncers, if held accountable for their actions and given the opportunity to learn, can and will do a better job. the time they’re just a pain in your backside. But they’re drunk. What do you expect?

If you ask your security team that same question, trust me, once they understand what you’re asking, they will have no problem giving you the correct answer. Why do they know the answer? Why do they know what a drunk’s “job” is?

Because they have experience dealing with hundreds of intoxicated guests. So if your bouncer knows that a drunk will get angry, yell, become aggressive and fight, why does the bouncer lose control? Why do they get caught off-guard?

It’s really a simple answer: The guard forgets and reacts incorrectly. Out of 50 guests, the guard will have to seriously interact with one. They may talk to a dozen intoxicated guests but will probably have a serious issue with just one in 50. This is a recipe for becoming relaxed and complacent— and then losing control. So how do we keep guards on their toes when they have to deal with just that one guest in 50, yet still have managers and owners feel confident the guard isn’t going to beat the crap out of that one drunk guest?

Two more simple answers: First, move security up the priority list of daily discussion points. I know that torn carpet is important to fix and yes, the air conditioner screen needs to be cleaned and you need to hire a new server, but NONE of these tasks can cost you as much money as an untrained, unprepared, and unsupervised bouncer when they have to put their hands on an intoxicated guest.

Secondly, constantly teach your employees that people come to your bar or club to have fun, and to have fun, some guests will consume alcohol and start to act inappropriately.

Trust me, this simple step-by-step primer for your

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How To: employees isn’t obvious enough, and you need to remind them on a regular basis for their own good.

Whether you have regular security shift meetings or weekly/monthly meetings, you have to teach your staff to expect this process and embrace it and demand they know and understand

that it’s all a part of the business, and that if they don’t understand that a drunk might not want to do what they say—too bad, they have to deal with that guest as delicately as they can. If they can’t, get rid of them and get someone that will drink your Kool-Aid. It's that simple.

To recap Part 1: Employees use excessive force when they are caught off-guard and are untrained and unprepared for the drunk guests behavior—or the guard is just a mean person. Those are my top reasons.

Nearly all trouble starts with a drunk. Whether the “suspect” or the “victim,” they are normally drunk.

This is not an absolute—sober people can make mistakes—but it must be understood that drunks cause most of our violent problems. Drunks will do stupid things, and every employee—

Drunks will do stupid things. If you expect it and you're prepared, you're mentally ready and more likely to not go over the line. especially security guards—should accept the activity of drunken guests and expect for them to resist, push, or fight. If you expect it and you’re prepared, you’re mentally ready and you’re less likely to go over the line.

Alright, that’s it for Part 1. To read or listen to Part 2 of this series on the legal use of force, where we will discuss the criminal and civil liability potential of excessive force and how to lower your liability when force is used, go to our website: www.nightclubsecurity. com/podcast-and-blog starting Thursday, March 13th. You can also sign up on iTunes for our Nightclub Security Podcast by searching the keywords “nightclub security.” And don’t forget to register for Part 3, live at the Nightclub & Bar Show by visiting www.ncbshow.com.

Should you have any comments or questions about this article, this series, or our services, please email admin@ nightclubsecurity.com.

Good luck and be safe.

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Bar Business Magazine February 2014

www.barbizmag.com

How To:

Run a Bar Abroad

A GlobAl ApproAch to bars Someday you may want to take the skills you’ve learned in the American bar business and apply them elsewhere in this great world of ours. Here is some insight from those who have done it. By Josh Bateman

A

t one point or another, many people have entertained the idea of moving to a new country and opening a bar. However, very few actually follow through on the thought.

Opening a bar in one’s home country is difficult enough. Language hurdles, regulatory differences, and logistical challenges further complicate the process when opening one internationally.

However, these hurdles also create opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to blaze new trails.

An avid trekker, Brian Smith of Portland, Maine, first came to Nepal 12 years ago as a backpacker out of college.

He returned in 2010, and in 2011 opened Brian’s Grill House in, Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital.

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“The career thing started getting carried away and I was working 70 or 80 hours a week and traveling once a year,” said Smith, an engineer by trade.

“Then I decided to come to Nepal and figured I’d give it a year and see how things went. I had no idea what I was going to do.”

Once Smith arrived, he got his nightlife career started by hosting parties, catering events, and holding cooking classes. He also started making and distributing salsa, which enabled him to meet new people and develop an initial client network while also receiving market feedback.

Located at the top floor of an office building, Brian’s Grill House is an open bar that provides a refreshing reprieve

from the crowded, dusty Kathmandu streets below. The bar has picturesque mountain views. On a clear day, you can see the Himalayas (above).

In 2010, Carl Setzer and his wife, Liu Fang, opened Great Leap Brewing, Beijing’s first craft brewer, in one of the City’s historic hutong neighborhoods.

Setzer, from Cleveland, Ohio, first moved to China in 2003. He and Liu Fang, from Shandong province in China, both came from corporate backgrounds and did not come to Beijing with the intentions of starting a bar. “We didn’t come to Beijing to start a better brewery, but wanted a better life,” said Setzer. “We were at the right place at the right time with the right people. Beijing right now is not unlike

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inter-war period Paris with the artists, culinarians, entrepreneurs, and writers.”

Setzer started selling beer in Beijing’s 798 art district and received critical product feedback during the process. The couple also spent time traveling and doing market research in Europe.

New ChalleNges Different countries offer different challenges. Smith talked about the lack of infrastructure and Nepal’s government bureaucracy. “One of the biggest things here is the energy,” he said. “There are days when we don’t have electricity for up to 20 hours. That adds tremendous costs trying to keep things refrigerated.”

Offering American fare, Smith talked about the challenges in finding a consistent supply of high-quality ingredients. He imports some alcohol and ingredients himself and periodically flies to China and other countries to get other components.

He also said business visas are now four times more expensive than they used to be. With interest rates in the 18-20% range, getting a loan is not economically viable. Additionally, the Nepal rupee is a nonconvertible currency, which can further complicate an exit strategy.

In Beijing, Liu Fang also talked about the time-intensive process of sourcing ingredients. She mentioned cases where it has taken up to a year to find the right local ingredient. “You have to figure out

New markets, new cultures.

"You can't expect to run things like you would in the U.S." what’s best for the beer,” she said.

The couple also discussed regulatory challenges; regulations can be vague and getting approval and permits can prove challenging. However, their experience from opening the first location made the opening of their second bar, No. 12 Flagship Brewpub, significantly easier.

Like Nepal, getting a loan in Beijing is not an option. Their first round of financing was angel investment from friends and family and the second round included outside capital from people like Bill Covaleski, co-founder of Victory Brewing Company in Philadelphia. “For him to put faith in what we’re doing here made me happy,” said Setzer.

The couple set up their company up

Whatever country you may find yourself, people still love to gather for a drink.

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as a foreign entity. This process is a little more difficult and expensive, but will make it easier to exit the business when the time comes.

DiffereNt Cultures New markets also mean new cultures.

Talking about Nepal, Smith said “there are some massive cultural barriers. Even after being here four years, I’m still learning. You can’t expect to run things here like you would in the U.S.” He has local partners. “I think you’d be absolutely insane to try and do something here without a local partner,” said Smith. “Social interaction takes a while to get used to. There’s no yellow pages here. It’s tough to do simple things like find a plumber. A local manager can work as a go-between.

“I’ve definitely made some mistakes.

Everything else you can get passed.

Logistics issues can be solved. Power can be paid for. With cultural issues, there’s more of a learning curve. It’s just something you have to learn as you’re doing it. Take a hard look at things before assuming you can do it better, but at the same time, don’t think the things you want to do are impossible.”

Smith also talked about language differences. “Most of the staff and clientele speak English, but I should have learned more of the local language by now.”

Setzer echoed similar thoughts.

“Learn the language so you can’t be taken advantage of. Know the law. Hire a lawyer and an accountant. Don’t take money from bad people or cut corners.”

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How To: GeneratinG Business Smith has adapted his model to fit the local market. Brian’s Grill House has a family atmosphere during the day and at night is more of a party scene with dancing, and according to Smith, “some of the best DJs in the entire country.”

Smith’s clientele is approximately 60% local residents, many of whom

have traveled or studied overseas. Smith uses Facebook, expat message boards, and word-of-mouth to generate business. He also stressed the importance of having “key relationships” with influential people from different organizations— embassies, NGOs, and the military— who help drive business.

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“Great Leap Brewing a lot of beer tourists and craft brewery people who are curious by nature,” said Setzer, who also talked about the influence of key industry people. “You only get one shot with those people.” He said a meaningful percentage of their business is from local Chinese who have traveled overseas and have become accustomed to the taste of beer and the bar experience. As such, Great Leap Brewing’s beers are named after famous Chinese people who are recognized globally. This makes their brand transferable to other markets if they decide to expand internationally.

achievinG success For these entrepreneurs, profit is not the main motivation. “This is not the most lucrative thing I’ve ever done,” said Smith. “No one comes here to make money. You come here because you love something about the place.” The adventure has given him the opportunity to meet former Nepalese royalty, movie directors and Miss Australia. He also appreciates the opportunity to be creative and introduce new things to Nepal, such as the first margarita machine and authentic blue cheese Buffalo wing sauce.

For Great Leap Brewing, the ability to be innovative is also important.

“Being in China gives us the chance to experiment,” said Liu Fang. For example, seven of their beers are infused with tea. She also talked about meeting new people, and said the most rewarding part is “simple encouragement from someone you don’t know.”

Setzer talked about their goals.

“First, to see better beer produced in China, and second, a better culture of beer than industrialized beer as a whole,” he said, “If we can make the best beer in the world, it doesn’t matter if we’re rich, it’s something we can be proud of.”

Josh Bateman is a freelance journalist based in Asia.

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Bar Business Magazine February 2014

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A Fine Time for

Wine

By Chris Ytuarte

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Bar Business Magazine February 2014

Some industry experts see the wine industry poised to benefit from the growth of craft spirits, cocktails and beer, all of which have stimulated a once stagnant consumer palate that showed little interest in distinct beverage flavor profiles, but now craves variety and deeper drinking experiences.

And within that expansion lies room for wine to find new audiences on-premise.

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A

ccording to The Wine Institute, Americans drank 856 million gallons of wine in 2012, which amounted to 15% more than they sipped in 2007. And yet wine sales on-premise — for any venue not identifying itself as a wine bar— have always been tricky. Of those 856 gallons in 2012, how many were consumed in your bar?

At large nightclubs and dance-centric locations, the delicacy of the wine experience—thin-stemmed glassware, floral bouquets—is all but lost, and revenues derived from the category would reflect that in such establishments. Mid-level bars, lounges, and taverns are more prone to successful wine programs, with an older, sophisticated clientele and a relaxed environment, all of which are conducive to the nuances that make for a profitable wine service.

If you fit into this category, it’s time to start thinking about what is available to you in the area of wine, Champagne, and even Prosecco. Despite the window of opportunity being presented by the craft beverage explosion, statistics vary in terms of wine sales in the marketplace, attributable perhaps to the very lack of execution on-premise we would aim to eliminate as bar owners.

MARKET TRENDS Restaurant Sciences LLC, an independent firm that closely tracks food and beverage product sales throughout the foodservice industry in North America, recently reported that the sales of on-premise wine fell 2.6 percent from May 2013 to October 2013, compared to the same timeframe in 2012. Despite this overall decline, wine sales saw double-digit growth, over 10 percent, in www.barbizmag.com

family dining and quick service restaurants during this period. Restaurant Sciences analyzed more than $1.2 billion in on-premise wine sales.

“Despite growth in several categories, overall wine sales fell because bars and nightclubs sold 17.7 percent less wine from May to October 2013 than the previous year,” said Chuck Ellis, president and CEO of Restaurant Sciences LLC. “On a positive note, wine sales in quick service restaurants grew 10.2 percent over this same period. With an estimated 12 percent of 30,000 fast casual locations distributing wine, this segment provides ample opportunity for expansion, and we expect the wine industry to take notice.”

And what of the bubbly? On-premise, Champagne and Prosecco are customarily reserved for special occasions, unless sold as ingredients in a craft cocktail (always a good idea for an upsell). But can the craft movement that may beneift wine reach across the aisle to its sophisticated friends in the flutes?

“Champagne is currently going through a trend of ‘non-celebratory consumption,’” says Dr. David Menival, professor and specialist in Champagne and the wine industry at NEOMA Business School (formerly Reims Management School) in France.

Menival, with a PhD in Economics, develops research and courses for NEOMA Business School relevant to the Champagne industry and wine business in general.

His research focuses on the reputation of wine, its relation to place, as well as wine tourism. He is also interested in drinker perceptions of wine quality, and the motivation to drink, especially in emergent markets such as China.

“There are no surprises, since previous forecasts did not announce any pick-up in the volume of sales February 2014 Bar Business Magazine

31

Glass & Co, USA, one of Austria’s leading lead-free crystal glassware producers, recently announced they are now able to service the North American market.

before at least 2014-2015,” said Menival. “The dependence of Champagne on the European markets remains a reality, even if shipments towards more distant countries are developing. The European economy is still weak, and that leads to tensions for non-essential products such as Champagne.”

According to data published by the Comité Interprofessional du vin de Champagne (CIVC), 36.1 million bottles of Champagne were shipped in October 2013, down 5.2% compared to October 2012. Over twelve months, total shipments were down 4.2% to some 30.5 million bottles, yet non-European countries saw growth (+0.7%).

In such a context, future sales of Champagne will depend completely on the way the glut in Europe is dealt with. “The promotional actions of supermarkets and discounters inevitably impacts consumers’ behavior toward Champagnem,” said Menival. “These same consumers are changing their consumption patterns as they face yet more budgetary constraints.”

TECHNOLOGY Beyond the statistics, perhaps the greatest growth in the wine segment has been in the area of its accompanying technology. From preservation to glassware, apps to portion control, the advancements 32

Bar Business Magazine February 2014

and the tools available to truly improve your wine service are impressive.

Glass & Co. USA, one of Austria’s leading lead-free crystal glassware producers, recently announced they are now able to service the North American market via their website (www.wineglass-usa.com) and selected distributors, bringing some of the finest and most durable glassware to the continent.

Martin Richter, speaker for Glass & Co, USA, says the ground-breaking new glassware is set to revolutionize America’s hospitality industry in the same way the top quality, scratch-, shatter- and chipresistant glassware has done in Europe.

“Our lead-free crystal glasses are designed with the newest technology and are made out of a single piece of high-density glass with no joints,” he says. The rims are diamond polished. “This means our glasses are far more break resistant than those manufactured by conventional methods.”

Made in Austria, each glass has a modern design and size while remaining strong enough to deal with constant use within the hospitality industry, and each is 100 per cent lead free and dishwasher safe.

“Our glassware has already seen incredible success in Europe,” Mr. Richter explains. “For example, our chianti glass is one of the most-used tasting glasses in central Europe.”

Napa Technology (napatechnology.com), creator of www.barbizmag.com

the WineStation intelligent wine dispensing and preservation system, recently unveiled its new WineStation DuoClimate unit, which allows bar owners and operators to dispense white and red wines at ideal serving temperatures, side-by-side, from the same four-bottle system.

Napa Technology’s DuoClimate accessory creates a 12- to 15-degree differential between the two zones. This upgrade further assists Napa Technology customers to have greater flexibility managing the growing consumer demand for more wine-by-the-glass choices and expanded their ‘try-before-you-buy’ tasting programs, which are becoming quite popular.

This new feature joins the line-up of aftermarket accessories designed to generate greater operational efficiencies and effective business growth tools, such as the WineStation High Volume Hybrid to dispense wine from kegs, and the Wine Sales Printer to provide customers and staff with a purchase/sales record.

Alongside preservation, hand-in-hand, goes conservation, or better known in the industry as portion control. For wine, a new system from Pourmark (www.pourmark.com) is quickly becoming a favorite tool among restaurant and bar owners. The system lets the user etch a custom portion control mark on beer, wine and beverage glasses.

Pourmark helps restaurants, bars and other establishments increase profits through easy portion control. Over pouring at the bar can result in a loss of profit over time. That extra ¼” over pour of wine, ten times a day, equals about one case a month. The consistency is also recognized among customers, who know what they are going to get during every visit.

The VinEdge ™ system (www.vinedge.com) is a pour spout wine preserver ideal for bars that want to maintain the freshness and flavor of any individual bottle they may open for by-the-glass service.

VinEdge consist of a sleek, no-pump spout and a disposable tube (the Vin-Sert™) that is placed in an open bottle. As the wine is poured, the tube inflates in the bottle, creating a natural vacuum and reducing the amount of air that touches the wine. Once the entire bottle has been spent, the spout is removed, leaving the

Vin-Sert inside for easy cleanup.

And then there’s Vivino (www.vivino.com), a wine app that allows users to take photos of wine labels and, using proprietary image-recognition technology, match the images against a database of more than two million wines.

“We created Vivino to let consumers and professionals share information on their favorite wines with other enthusiasts directly from their Smartphone or mobile device,” says Vivino CEO, Heini Zachariassen.

“Today, ours is the most comprehensive wine database on the planet with 3 million worldwide users.”

To get your wine service going, keep track of the latest market stats, research the technology, and educate yourself (and your customers) on the newest brands and varietals of wine, Champagne, and Prosecco. It’s a new day for the category. Don’t get caught watching the sun set.

VinEdge™ pour spout wine preserver is ideal for bars that want to maintain freshness and flavor.

Pourmark lets the user etch a custom portion control mark on beer, wine and beverage glasses.

www.barbizmag.com

The WineStation intelligent wine dispensing and preservation system includes the new WineStation DuoClimate accessory.

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Let there Be Light distinguishing your bar from every other starts With the first impression, and Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the first thing customers see When they turn the lights on?

Well, the lights, of course.

We talk to a custom lighting producer about the current market trends, and then help you figure out What your patrons should be sitting on once the lights go up each night. by chris ytuarte 34

Bar Business Magazine February 2014

www.barbizmag.com

(and Seats)

Y

ou know what they say: Everything old is new again.

So it’s no wonder we’re seeing Thomas Edison’s original filament bulbs filling the walls and ceilings in some of today’s trendiest bars.

As a key component to any overall nightlife aesthetic, lighting is always paramount in creating a mood and ambience. In the 80s, we had neon. In the 90s, things got a little gothic. And these days, a lighting style we’ll call ‘rustic industrial’ is making its way into bars.

“You see this trend all over,” says Luke Kelly, Owner of LukeLampCo., and maker of handcrafted lighting fixtures and furniture accessories. “I think a big part of it is that everything is getting so modernized, and I think people are missing that old Americana and the way things used to be made. And we’re seeing movement towards that in a lot of things. People are really starting to care about how their things are made.”

Kelly only makes his one-of-a-kind lighting fixtures one way—by hand. “I have a supplier for a lot of my lighting parts and the hardware, and I have a guy who does the welding and metal work, but we do everything by hand,” he says. “We don’t farm anything out. I have two shops now—one that’s purely for prototyping and initial creation and the other is where we do more of the assembly line work.”

Since launching his Web-based business two years ago at www.etsy.com/shop/ LukeLampCo, Kelly has been taking orders from bar and pub owners in the U.S. and some 50 countries abroad, often to nightlife operators entranced by the aesthetic of his lighting fixtures. “I have a client in Germany we just did a job for who wanted 50 of our rope pendant lights to do a big installation that basically covered the entire room with them.”

Kelly’s lighting options include various styles of hanging fixtures (“We can

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provide really long cords to make it easy to plug into the wall and basically hang anywhere.”), standing fixtures for bar tops (“Just plug-in and place them wherever you want.”), and most recently a line of mixedfunction fixtures that can display a bar’s beer selection while part of the décor.

“It’s a really simple table lamp with a rubber base where a beer bottle can snuggly fit, and you can swap out any beer you want,” says Kelly. “If you have a local craft brewer in town, you can ‘spotlight’ their bottle. And we’re also about to come out with a bottle display for the wall where

you can fit empty bottles in from the bottom, for a bar that wants to showcase its craft beer selection. You mount it on the wall and it can hold six, 12, 36 bottles to show what beer you offer and be a cool decorative piece at the same time.”

Is rustic industrial lighting here to stay?

“I think it’s a lasting trend, because a lot of it is an aesthetic—that kind of industrial rustic look—that’s been around for a really long time,” says Kelly. “And it’s a classic, timeless look, especially for bars and pubs. You want to create an inviting atmosphere that is going to stand the test of time.”

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The edIson FIlAmenT “I provide bulbs with all of my fixtures, and the Edison filament bulbs are huge right now,” says Luke Kelly. “Often times buyers will get an extra set or two of those, and the nice thing about them is that they actually last nearly twice as long as standard bulbs. You might look at them and think they’re just sort of a novelty thing, with the big filament and the warm burn, but they last a long time.

They have a lifespan of several thousand hours, whereas most standard bulbs are around 1,500 hours. And it’s a really easy way to add a cool vibe to a space.”

WhIch sTool

is best for my bar?

10 questions you should ask when shopping for bar stools What is my décor?

Most shoppers select a particular stool based on looks, so it fits the bar’s brand and atmosphere. But remember, the most obvious choice isn’t always the only choice.

Be open to experimenting and creating a more visually appealing room by integrating various design elements. If your bar is traditional or even historical and your top priority is maintaining a warm ambiance, you may be interested in a wooden bar stool. Wooden stools are classical and rich in character, but they can be slightly more expensive than and not quite as durable as their metal bar stool counterparts. Today, there are a lot of versatile designs that mix the strength of metal with the warmth of wood. For example, you could select a strong metal frame with a wooden seat and back insert.

1

Are these stools going outside?

Outdoor bars and patios are growing in popularity. Bar stools designed for indoor use should only be used indoors, and vice versa. Aluminum, wrought iron, or poly lumber stools, for example, are designed specifically for outside commercial use, and using them indoors may void any warranties. Some outdoor furniture cannot withstand the rigors of everyday indoor dining. Likewise, models designed for inside use aren’t built for outside weather conditions. Make sure your bar furniture is appropriately finished for your needs.

2

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Want a pop of color?

If you’re looking for a bright hue indoors, ask about custom upholstery options. An emerging trend in furniture design is to dip a stool frame into paint; be on the lookout for half-painted furniture in a bar near you.

Finding exciting colors for outside stools is easier, due to the materials from which they’re made. Poly lumber, powder coated aluminum, and resin come in many shades.

3

Is my bar small and cozy, or large and roomy?

Size does matter when it comes to bar furniture. Your furniture shouldn’t dominate your limited space, so choose a petite-sized or backless stool. Avoid oversized, bucket seats, and tall backs. A downfall with backless stools is their comfort level; they aren’t the sit-and-stay-a-while type if you want your guests to perch at the bar for longer than usual times. On the other hand, furniture with larger features will help fill up an empty or large room and offer your customers added comfort.

4

Is my bar highly trafficked?

If your stools are in constant use from open to close, seven days a week, you need extra-strength seating. Look for stools that are made of 16-gauge steel or stronger, feature two complete support braces, and are fully welded. (Steel gauges get stronger as the number decreases, so a 16-gauge frame is stronger than an 5

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By Emily Fritz, East Coast Chair & Barstool 18-gauge frame.) All bar and restaurant stools should pass commercial weight testing (usually up to 250 pounds), and most quality manufacturers will offer a limited warranty on the stool frames. A metal frame will most likely have a longer warranty than a wooden frame from the same manufacturer.

Am I replacing swivel stools?

If your customers are used to swiveling in and out of their seats, they’ll prefer you replace your old stools with new swivel bar stools. There are a lot of pros and cons to swivels, but the ease of movement for your guests is definitely a plus. Swivel stools create a more social environment, because guests can turn and talk to other patrons easily. However, the actual swivel mechanism is a wear item and might need to be replaced periodically. Compare swivels based on quality and length of warranty.

6

How often do I plan to replace my bar stools?

If you enjoy an updated look every couple of years, a stool’s estimated lifetime might not be of concern to you. But if you’re searching for a long-term commitment, you will want to consider how the stool will wear. Avoid stools with upholstery, as vinyl can crack or rip over time. A can of inexpensive spray paint can easily touch up scratches on a metal frame, but scratches on wooden stools are harder to disguise 7

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unless you have a specific touch-up marker.

Regularly dusting and polishing a wooden frame could be the T.L.C. your stool needs to keep it looking new for longer.

Is my bar the standard 42” high?

When architects design bars for new establishments, they sometimes get creative and ask the owner to consider a higher-than-average size or suggest going counter-height. This could mean trouble when trying to order bar stools, especially at an affordable price. If you want the widest selection of commercial grade stools, it’s best to stick to the norm. Most bar stools have a seat height of about 30 inches, so the top of your bar (or high top table) should be right at that 42-inch mark.

8

Is it commercial grade?

Be sure to choose a commercial grade stool for your bar or restaurant. Your local department store may sell some cute furniture, but a stool designed for residential use is just simply not safe to put in your place of business and could cause liability issues.

9

Is price an object?

Of course, all business decisions come down to the bottom line. Have an idea of how many stools you need, and set a reasonable price range to accomplish that goal. You’ll want to do some space planning to make sure the amount of furniture you 10

order fits and fills up your bar or dining area. If funds are tight, your best bet may be to search for furniture that is on sale or on closeout. You may find great looking stools that match your décor in a discontinued section. Also, some retailers will offer an economy line; compare and contrast the features of the value bar stool with a standard model. Purchasing furniture online from a dot com can save you money by ordering directly, as long as you don’t mind assembling and installing the furniture yourself.

Your answers to these questions will have you on your way to finding the perfect stool for your bar.

It may also be helpful to ask your customers, staff, or business associates for feedback as you weigh the benefits and features of any new furniture before you go out and invest your valuable capital.

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Rail Drinks We head north of Los Angeles to San Francisco to find out what the purveyors of the newly opened Third Rail are bringing to the ever-expanding cocktail scene in the City by the Bay, where it’s all been done and what’s old is new again.

By Chris Ytuarte

Y

es, we are straying slightly from the traditional Big Six list by looking north of Los Angeles to the great city of San Francisco for this month’s profile.

But let’s face it, while LA has its foothold on celebrity-driven nightlife, the City by the Bay has become ground zero for some of the most innovative design work in the bar industry—both in the mixing glass and in on-premise aesthetic.

As such, it’s worthwhile to check in with one of the city’s newest offerings, Third Rail, where a pair of experienced operators find themselves in the unusual situation of trying 38

Bar Business Magazine February 2014

to find a nightlife niche in a town full of them. San Francisco has seen it all—much of which even originated here—so it’s a challenge these days to find a neighborhood that hasn’t “come and gone,” a design approach that hasn’t “been done,” and a beverage program that hasn’t “fizzled out.”

Hence, the thriving and revitalized Dogpatch area of San Francisco recently welcomed the latest development to the area, Third Rail, which opened December 12, 2013. The principals are more than familiar with local nightlife: Jeff Lyon is the former bar manager at San Francisco hotspot Range, while partner Phil West was Range’s owner and chef. www.barbizmag.com

Patrons at Third Rail can view the streets of the hip Dogpatch location.

“Phil was my boss at Range,” says Lyon. “We were talking about future plans one night, and I told him my goal was to eventually open a bar. He said he wanted to open another restaurant, but that’s a much bigger undertaking with much higher overhead. It’s a bigger monster than a bar. So one conversation led to another and we eventually partnered up and started looking for a space.”

The Neighborhood Third Rail, at 628 20th street, is located in the Dogpatch, making it the newest addition to this thriving, up-andcoming neighborhood of San Francisco. “We went out a lot,” says Lyon. “We called it ‘R&D’ but really we just went out to a lot of bars and talked about the experience and fine-tuned what we wanted, balancing our ideal bar with what we thought would be a good money maker. We wanted to be sure that whatever neighborhood we ended up in, we fit the area and the venue fit our ideas for a bar.”

After looking at several sites, Lyon and West found their space in the Dogpatch, “which has been the up-and-coming area of San Francisco for like 15 years,” Lyons quips. “It’s a www.barbizmag.com

little bit industrial, it’s a little bit far out, it’s a little bit hard to get to—which, in San Francisco, means anything more than a 20-minite cab ride. But the more we went over there and the more we researched the development in the neighborhood and what kind of restaurants and bars and other businesses had put their flags down there and made it their home, we realized now it’s finally up-and-coming—for real this time.”

It is still a neighborhood that can be sparse at certain hours; there is not a lot of retail yet, and therefore, not a lot of foot traffic. But West had a similar feeling when he opened Range on a street in the Mission District that didn’t have much going on. Within three years it had become the epicenter of new retail, bars, and restaurants. “Trusting his lead on that and feeling out the Dogpatch neighborhood, I felt like it was sort of old school San Francisco,” says Lyon.

“It’s not shiny, glitzy, tech San Francisco; there are some blue-collar working class here. At the same time there is tons of high-end condo development just north of here. I could see it ending up as a kind of crossroads between old San Francisco and new San Francisco.”

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SAN FRANCISCO BoSTon CHICAGo LAS VeGAS

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The vintage, early 20th century French train station clock adds to the bar’s subtle train motif.

The Design The 1,100-square-foot location features 15 bar stools, banquette seating, and a standing bar. Those are the essentials. Look harder and you’ll see how the design/build team at San Francisco’s Paxton Gate transformed the space (formerly Retox Lounge) into a classic, comfortable, urban, neighborhood bar with mid-century touches and Art Deco motifs inspired by “old” and “new world” train stations.

“In our first design meetings, we picked Paxon Gate, which is a store and design facility here that originally did garden design and landscaping for years before they ever started doing interiors,” says Lyon. “Part of the reason we picked them is that the owner and designer is my oldest friend; but mainly we picked them because their aesthetic is very in-tune with what we were going for.”

Paxton Gate owner Sean Quigley and lead designer Todd McCrea’s design for the Third Rail aimed to “restore the allure of the classic, urban neighborhood bar, with the added challenge of moving away from the current trend of relying on reclaimed pieces to freight personality and instead stress custom built-ins, including an original from-the-ground-up bar and back bar.”

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Despite the Art Deco touches, such as beveled and stepped surfaces inspired by classic elements of the Deco masterpiece that is the Golden Gate Bridge, and nods to classic train stations such as the installation of a vintage, early 20th century French train station clock, Lyon and West strived to avoid San Francisco deign clichés. “We didn’t want to do a theme,” Lyon emphasizes. “And neither Phil nor I are design guys. We didn’t say we want a mid-century blah blah blah with these kinds of masculine lines blah blah blah. We didn’t have a vocabulary for it. So we told them what we didn’t want, and we told them things we liked and Paxon Gate cobbled together a theme-without-a-theme.”

Both partners liked the idea of tying the Third Rail name with some sort of train element, but, as Lyon puts it, “We didn’t want a choo-choo-train bar.” Instead, they pushed for certain subtle looks, lighting fixtures, and seating, but most importantly, emphasized function over form. “Part of a repeated theme in the bar is based on the design of the Golden Gate Bridge,” says Lyon. “But it’s very subtle. You wouldn’t walk in and think, ‘Hey, this is a Golden Gate Bridge bar.’ The Art Deco touches of the bridge sort of informed one of the designers who thought it looked like a bracket that www.barbizmag.com

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Bar Business Magazine February 2014

could hold a lot of weight with a big chunky look to it but a beautiful design. And that ended up being this stair-step bracket design that is repeated throughout the bar in a very smooth way. That also informed our graphic designer, who incorporated it into our logo and our sign. It has big lines and solid colors and wood.

Though, we did avoid the overt use of reclaimed wood and live-edge bar tops and other things that aim to look intentionally industrial. That’s really been done to death in San Francisco, the modern rustic industrial look.”

The Drinks San Francisco is a hotbed of mixology and craft cocktails. Differentiating your venue from others in this area is just as challenging as finding a great neighborhood and a strong design. So Lyon and West kept things simple and let their work do the talking for them.

The cocktail list, broken into four categories (spirituous, aperitif, seasonal, and citrus), aims to impress based on its merits—nothing more— and tries to be accessible to all.

“One thing I did in the year or two leading up to the opening of the bar is go to a lot of bars in different places— New York, LA, all around San Francisco, the Midwest—and I realized that if you’re in the craft cocktail world you start losing track of what is accessible or appealing,” says Lyon. “Because if you’re nerding out on the newest Amaro or some bitters that no one’s ever heard of, you don’t want to start thinking, ‘How weird can I make this cocktail list?’ Our goal was to make a neighborhood bar that just happens to have craft cocktails. It’s not trying to be the most impressive, it’s not there to necessarily ‘wow’ everybody by using steak in a cocktail or something wacky like that. It’s about making it a public space, making it comfortable, and making it social.”

At the end of the day, Third Rail is a bar lover’s bar. It doesn’t boast, it doesn’t brag, it doesn’t glimmer. It just does what a great bar should do. “We try to almost hide our special features,” says Lyon. “We don’t advertise all of the great little things.”

Please, allow us to do so for you. www.barbizmag.com

Inventory Brockmans Gin Launch in 2014

Woodchuck® Hard Cider in Chocolate

Brockmans Gin, an ultra-premium, new style gin, will kick off 2014 with its first introduction to the United States. Launched in England in 2009 and expanded to Switzerland & Spain in 2010, the U.K.-based brand will hit U.S. stores in Massachusetts and New Jersey in January. Breaking away from the London Dry style gin, Brockmans taste is derived from a unique recipe of exquisite botanicals, designed to be so smooth it can be consumed neat or over ice. Brockmans is made with the highest quality ingredients such as angelica, coriander from Bulgaria and juniper berries sourced from Tuscany. Hand selected, this unique combination of botanicals is steeped in pure grain spirit for up to 24 hours to release their flavors. After steeping, Brockmans is distilled in a traditional copper still.

Traditional gin aromas of juniper and angelica marry with the refreshing citrus flavors and the rounder top notes of blueberry and blackberry, to give the gin its refreshingly different signature taste. Brockmans Gin will be available in 750 mL at an SRP of $34.99. For more information, visit www.brockmansgin.com.

Woodchuck Hard Cider continues its tradition of category pioneering ciders with the release of Woodchuck Cellar Series Chocolate. The third cider released in the Cellar Series line, Chocolate is on store shelves now, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Woodchuck’s original small batch hard cider, featuring Vermont culinary apple varieties such as Macintosh and late season Northern Spy, was aged with crushed cocao beans. Cocao beans, or nibs, are the starting point from which chocolate is produced.The infusion of the cocao nibs bring notes of artisan chocolate throughout the nose and taste of the cider. A hint of caramel accompanies the dry finish, as does a full apple flavor. Cellar Series Chocolate represents one of the most unique ciders Woodchuck has ever brought to market. It deepens the commitment to crafting cider styles that push the category forward while exposing cider to an ever-growing audience.

Cellar Series Chocolate is pasteurized and featured in a 22oz bottle. Alcohol by volume (ABV) is 6.9%. It is shipping now nationwide and will be on store shelves through February.

Suggested retail for a 22oz bottle is $4.99. More information is available at www.woodchuck.com.

Virtue’s Bourbon Barrel-aged Cider

Whisky is Wiser Beyond Its Years

Virtue Cider has released a 2013 vintage of its popular winter cider, The Mitten. A blend of last season’s best Michigan apples, The Mitten is aged for several months in bourbon barrels, then finished with juice from the prolific 2013 apple harvest. The resulting cider offers notes of vanilla, caramel, and charred American oak, balanced with the best of the orchard—overripe apples and their sweet, tart, earthy juice. This is the second draft release of The Mitten and its first bottle release outside of Virtue’s Fennville, Mich. tasting room and bottle shop. The Mitten 2013 vintage enters the craft cider market already a recipient of the Gold Medal Award for Cider at the 2013 Festival of Barrel Aged Beer. It is one of six traditional farmhouse blends Virtue Cider ages in one of the largest barrel programs in North American cider. The Mitten will be offered on draft and in 750ml bottles in all markets where Virtue is currently distributed, including the company’s home state of Michigan, plus Chicago, Kentucky, Los Angeles, New York City, Ohio, Portland, Ore.; San Francisco, and Washington state. It’s also available for order online. For more information about Virtue Cider, head to www.virtuecider.com and find them on Facebook and Twitter.

Pernod Ricard USA, producer of premium spirits and wines, announces the arrival of J.P.Wiser’s premium North American Whisky to the U.S. market. Just recently, J.P Wiser’s Rye, J.P Wiser’s Spiced, J.P. Wiser’s Deluxe and J.P. Wiser’s 18 Year Old arrived at retail and on-premise outlets throughout the country, and while new to the U.S., Wiser’s, born in 1857, has a long and storied history forged on an uncompromising commitment to quality. J.P. Wiser’s is produced the same way it was over 150 years ago when J.P. himself opened the distillery in 1857.

A perfectionist and a visionary, J.P. Wiser was one of the original North American whisky barons and was instrumental in crafting and perfecting column distillation to create a smooth and pure whisky. Today, Wiser’s whisky is distilled in a single copper column using only the highest quality grains grown in the Northern climate. The distillate is then finished in hand selected white oak barrels to intensify its character and flavor. Find out more at www.jpwisers.com.

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Peerless-AV Showcases New 47” Outdoor TV

Four New Scotch Whiskies from Anchor Distilling

Peerless-AV, a leader in audio-visual solutions, today introduced a new addition to its line of outdoor televisions – the PeerlessAV 47” Consumer Outdoor TV. Designed for outdoor entertaining, the Peerless-AV 47”Outdoor TV is ideal for homeowners as well as restaurants and bars looking to give customers a quality outdoor TV experience. An all-season solution for outdoor entertainment and living, the TV features an IP65 rating, making it water and dust resistant. The TV can also operate in severe temperatures ranging from -24 degrees Fahrenheit to 124 degrees Fahrenheit. The Peerless-AV 47” Outdoor TV is maintenance-free with no filters needing to be cleaned and/or replaced. The TV is constructed of aluminum and features safety glass, a bright picture, and 1080p. The PeerlessAV 47” Outdoor TV will be available in mid-February through Peerless-AV direct sales representatives and authorized distribution network. For more information about Peerless-AV, please visit www.peerless-av.com.

Built in 1898, The BenRiach Distillery has remained one of Scotland’s best-kept secrets – known only to whisky connoisseurs who have discovered its unique whiskies produced in the Heart of Speyside. Today, The BenRiach introduces four new expressions to the U.S. market: The BenRiach Horizons 12 Year Old Triple Distilled, The BenRiach Solstice 2nd Edition 17 Year Old, The BenRiach Septendecim 17 Year Old Peated Single Malt, and The BenRiach Authenticus 25 Year Old Peated Single Malt. The BenRiach, meaning “The Hill of the Red Deer” in Gaelic, sits amongst the rolling barley fields that rise to the foothills of the Grampian mountains in the northeast Speyside region of Scotland. Acquired in 2004 by Scotch whisky industry veteran Billy Walker, The BenRiach is home to an inventory of casks that date back to 1966. Employing distinctive copper stills and using local Scottish barley malt, The BenRiach’s craftsmen strive to blend traditional practices with innovative cask finishes to create whiskies that are unique to the Scotch category. For more information on BenRiach or distribution, visit AnchorDistilling.com.

Cutty Sark Brings Back the Real McCoy

Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon

Cutty Sark is announcing a new edition to its line of blended Scotch whiskies. A nod to the brand’s origins during the Prohibition era, Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition Blended Scotch Whisky pays tribute to the style of liquid consumed during the 1920s. Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition (coined “Cutty Pro” by its early adopters) salutes the notorious Captain William McCoy, who courageously smuggled Cutty Sark into American speakeasies. McCoy possessed an infamous reputation as a distributor of the highest quality products, always genuine and never adulterated, giving rise to Cutty Sark’s affectionate nickname, “The Real McCoy.” The black opaque bottle design and cork seal are a respectful hat tip to the type of whisky bottles prevalent during the Prohibition era. Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition is handcrafted in Scotland in small batches from top quality grain and single malt whiskies, matured in American Oak casks and bottled at 50% ABV (100 proof).

Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition is available now in select markets, rolling out nationwide throughout 2014 with a recommended retail price of $29.99. For more information, please visit www.us.cutty-sark.com.

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The latest vintage of the highly anticipated Evan Williams Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, the 2004 edition, is now shipping to select retailers and on premise operators nationwide.

Heaven Hill Distilleries, the nation’s largest familyowned and operated independent spirits producer and the world’s second-largest holder of aging Bourbon, annually releases the newest edition in the series that goes back 19 years and has in that time become one of the most highly anticipated American Whiskey releases of the year. The world-renowned Single Barrel Bourbon has garnered many prestigious awards since it was introduced in 1994. As with the previous 18 vintages, many of which are now highly sought after collector’s items, each bottle of the 2004 edition of Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage Bourbon is marked with the exact date that it was placed in oak and bottled, in addition to the exact serial number of the single barrel from which it was drawn.

The 86.6 proof Bourbon is matured in natural open-rick warehouses under the careful supervision of Heaven Hill’s Master Distillers, who monitor the progress of each year’s vintage to ensure it maintains its intended flavor profile and superb quality.

For more information visit www.heavenhill.com.

February 2014 Bar Business Magazine

45

Holiday Happenings

March 2014

March 2: Old Stuff Day. On this day, first drink is free for any customer who brings in an item of their old stuff. You’ve now gathered a complete collection of wall hangings for your new 2014 bar design theme—crappy chic.

March 3: National Anthem Day. See how many versions of our national anthem you can download to your digital jukebox on this day, and whether any of them even come close to the Jimi Hendrix instrumental version from the original Woodstock.

Doubt it.

16

17

March 16: Everything You Do Is Right Day. Mix gin with orange juice? You’re right! Put the best of Tiny Tim on repeat for an entire day on the jukebox? You’re right! Serve a 19-yearold? Holiday cancelled.

You’re fired.

March 17: St. Patrick’s Day. The mother of all bar days falls on a Monday this year. Clearly the creator of the Georgian calendar was not a bar owner.

46

Bar Business Magazine February 2014

10 March 10: Middle Name Pride Day. John Wilkes Booth.

Lee Harvey Oswald.

Mark David Chapman.

John Wayne Gacy.

You know what… never mind.

23 March 23: Near Miss Day. If you’re running a good bar, every day is a near miss day, because your male customers are always standing near a Miss.

11 March 11: Worship of Tool Days.

No set-up is complete without a stellar set of bar tools, so take this day to truly appreciate the splendor of your arsenal. And put them to good use!

26 March 26: Make Up Your Own Holiday Day. It’s not as easy as it looks, smart guy.

13 March 13: Ear Muff Day. Walking to the bar on a cold night? Check out these killer Bluetooth ear muffs from Sharper Image that allow you to keep those ears warm and wirelessly listen to music streaming from your Bluetooh-enabled smart phone.

What a country.

30 March 30: National Doctor’s Day. Honor this day by offering a drink special of my wife’s favorite cocktail: Vanilla flavored vodka mixed with Dr. Pepper. I don’t know what you call it, but it’s quite tasty.

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Jon Le-Bon / ShutterStock.com

3

2

Index of Advertisers

Company

web site address

page #

Cabaret Design Group

www.cabaretdesigners.com

25

CheckPass Business Solutions

www.checkpass.com

20

Coast to Coast Commercial Insurance www.ctocinsurance.com

42

HARBORTOUCH

www.iharbortouch.com

5,43

Heineken USA

www.heinenkenusa.com

C4

IDscan.net

www.idscan.net

24

Intuit

www.QuickBooks.com

3

Modern Line Furniture

www.modernlinefurniture.com

C2

Nightclub & Bar

www.ncbshow.com

21

TouchTunes

www.touchtunes.com

9

Ultimate Bars

www.UltimateBars.com

28

Western Spirits Beverage Co

www.20GrandVodka.com

17

Wristband Specialty

www.wristbandsupply.com

13

Inventory Companies Anchor Distilling

www.AnchorDistilling.com

Brockmans Gin

www.BrockmansGin.com

Cutty Sark

www.us.Cutty-Sark.com

Evan Williams

www.HeavenHill.com

J.P. Wiser’s Whiskey

www.JPWisers.com

Peerless AV

www.Peerless-AV.com

Virtue Cider

www.VirtueCider.com

Woodchuck® Hard Cider

www.Woodchuck.com

To advertise in Bar Business Magazine contact, Art Sutley, Ph: 212-620-7247, e-mail: asutley@sbpub.com

www.barbizmag.com

February 2014 Bar Business Magazine

47

Owning Up

Taking anoTher ShoT

For reSTauraTeur JacqueS ouari, a career now spanning nearly 20 years operating warm French brasseries and gastropubs in new York city began with his first job in america—at a pizza parlor. But he persisted, made the right connections, and now owns three successful venues in a city that chews up food establishments and spits them out. his latest, The Pitch & Fork, represents Jacques restaurant group's latest foray in the industry, with a strong focus on craft cocktails and comfort food. With all his success, ouari figured—why not take another shot? By chris Ytuarte

BB: How did you get started in the industry?

Jacques: I’ve been in the United States for almost 23 years. When I came over in 1989 my first job was in a pizzeria, and a few years later I got my green card and went to work for a wine company called Charmer. They had a lot of distributors, one of which imported Johnny Walker, Dewar's, Cognac Hennessy, Dom Pérignon, etc. I worked with those brands for about four years. And around that time—1992, 1993—a lot of the French restaurants didn’t have California wines. So part of my job became getting some of this California wine into the French restaurants. This is where I started to get to know the business and the people, and in 1995 I opened Jacques Café. I didn’t have much experience with restaurants, but my time selling wine to the French restaurants in town helped me make a lot of friends who did.

BB: With all your success, why start over again opening a new venue with The Pitch & Fork?

Jacques: The Pitch & Fork opened about a year and half ago. I live in the neighborhood and I thought it could use a small gastropub, something like Freeman’s or The Spotted Pig, only uptown. So I told my mixologist downtown that we should do some handcrafted cocktails, great local beers, and great food. And that’s what we’ve done.

BB: Opening a gastropub today versus 20 years ago, are craft cocktails and beers a must-have for today’s consumers?

Jacques: Yes, because a lot of people have opened places and called 48

Bar Business Magazine February 2014

themselves a gastropub but don’t really do anything like it. When you do a gastropub the emphasis is first on the food and cocktails, but everything has to have a little bit of a finer angle and has to be done in a finer way.

Some people just open a bar with cocktails but don’t work on the food, and I don’t know how you call that a gastropub. A gastropub is food and cocktails together, and we’re trying to go that route with The Pitch & Fork. So yes, having great beers and cocktails, and simple, upscale food is what we do. I just hope the neighborhood understands it.

BB: Is that the case? Do they understand it?

Jacques: I don’t know yet. We have our ups and downs. At the same time, a lot of places have opened up in this area around the same time, and the crafted cocktails are everywhere. We just have to define who we are and really enforce the concept. So it’s important to have those great cocktails and great dishes.

BB: How does someone starting from such a humble beginning in a pizza parlor get to where you are today?

Jacques: I realized recently that the most important thing is that it does help working in the industry to understand the business itself and the process, the products, what’s trendy and what’s not. But the most important thing for me would be to have a very precise concept and to have some kind of knowledge of business and finance. And of course, location, location, location. And finally, get a lawyer! www.barbizmag.com

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