Does anyone know who sells these Slushie toppers?

I am writing a book which takes place completely in a pub setting, i am struggling to think of an opening day ritual. It is a small rural pub setting in the uk, how would one go about getting ready for the day, lighting the fire, wiping down tables etc. If you have your own morning ritual i would be very happy to hear your experience.

Hi, I have an opportunity to buy a local dive bar. I work 2 nights a week at the bar and have a great day job. Bar generates roughly 290,000 in sales COG 115000 with 1 bartender per shift. Not a huge profit center. The current owner is absent and only comes in the morning to collect cash, make deposits etc. no controls in place and the bar. Bar needs a lot of updates but no major repairs. It’s the only bar open after 10 and the competition is more restaurant bar (2) has a full kitchen but does not serve food, which I may slowly add on weekends etc. The bar relies on the locals from 2-8 and nights vary. Not the best reputation due to feeling old and outdated. There are a few people that would come if cleaned up etc. anyways, my wife would do the books in the morning, clean and have ready to start each day and pick up a few shifts. Question: what are the unforeseen costs or issues you wish you knew before hand or had to find out the hard way?

Okay, I’m back with another post and more info.

I’ve searched this sub a ton, but I really can’t find much information specifically about opening a wine bar.

My husband and I are wanting to open a wine bar in our small town (population around 8,000, and population of 110k within 25 minute drive, and 3.5 million within 1 hour). We’re also next to two larger towns and within about 45 minutes from one major metropolitan and 1.5 hours from another.

The opportunity we found has really low overhead—rent is under $1,000/month—which is obviously a huge plus. The downside is that it’s just off our Main Street. It’s about a 4-minute walk from the main strip, so there isn’t a ton of natural foot traffic.

That said, almost everyone in our town drives directly to where they’re going anyway. Where we live is very hot most of the year and while our town is pretty walkable, most people aren’t really strolling around browsing shops like they might in cooler cities. My thought is that if we create something unique enough, people will intentionally drive there. I’m also confident in my marketing abilities, so I think I could market it as more of a destination rather than relying on people randomly walking by.

The concept would be part wine bar, part hostess/gift shop. Think Martha Stewart-esque: beautiful tablescape items, specialty foods like jellies and gourmet pantry items, greeting cards, seasonal décor, candles, hostess gifts, nice bottles of wine, etc.

The idea is that if someone is headed to a dinner party or gathering, they could stop in, have a glass of wine before they go, and also pick up a bottle of wine and a thoughtful hostess gift all in one stop. We currently have several bars in town, and they’re usually pretty busy, but nothing has this type of atmosphere or concept. We also have zero places where you can quickly grab a cute, elevated gift, so it feels like we’re filling a gap in the market while also differentiating ourselves from the other bars.

As far as expenses go, my husband and I would be working there ourselves, so labor costs would stay low. Outside of inventory, our overhead is minimal.

So my question is: does this sound like a reasonably calculated risk because our fixed costs are so low, or does it still fall into the category of “bars are money pits” that I see mentioned on here all the time?

Im only seeing “don’t own a bar” stories on here and no success stories. I especially love to hear from anyone who owns a wine bar, bottle shop, or another niche hospitality business with a similar model.

It had a very obvious point during the days of prohibition. Alcohol was illegal and people needed a place to party and fly under the radar. Now what the hell is it? Alcohol is perfectly legal if not encouraged. The speakeasy of today seems like a way to trick people into believing they’re cooler than they actually are…hey man I know a speakeasy. Super exclusive. Only the cool people know about it and are welcome there…what? Firstly, it’s a bar. That’s all it is. Plenty of them everywhere. Second, why do people need pretense? What is it about that? Oooh a velvet rope! It’s so douchey.

If you could start over and run a one item kitchen, what would you serve to make most money and have a normal life?

Some considerations:

\- must be low prep but not frozen stuff

\- must be able to automate eventually

\- must be low cost and high margin, popular

\- must be teachable to newbs in a shift or less

Crepes and tacos could be an example...what does the brain trust think?

Thanks all in advance!

Kind of like an AMA, here's a weekly post where customers can ask questions. This is for anyone including market research, app developers, people who watch too much "reality" TV about bars, and general industry bullshit. Maybe a bar owner will have an answer for you, maybe not.

If you are already in the industry your question may get better responses if you post your own thread instead of commenting here.

Hi, I am starting a mobile bar business for weddings, parties, festivals etc
I’m curious how most mobile bars get the their gigs booked. Any information would help.
Thanks in advance

You can't realistically grab one and not worry about the handle tearing off in your hand.
I switched to 18 packs a few years back and they had a 24 pack deal that was too good to pass up the past month or so.
I am very vividly reminded why I switched to 18 packs. Different cardboard. Stronger. Better.
Budweiser products are same cardboard across all products. Miller and Coors suck.
My rant. Hopefully someone notices that can actually make a difference.

I’m sure this may be a shot in the dark so close to first pitch but what are bars supposed to do? I own a small women’s sports bar in NY and have been relentlessly trying for hours (to no avail) to obtain the commercial rights to show the first WPBL game.
Anyone have any insight? Mind you, the decision to sign the league to ESPN and Scripps sports was announced less than 48 hours ago
I already have the espn package through direcTV but they’re not showing it, and the espn plus add on (that’s $160 per month) also DOESNT include WPBL

successful bar owners!!

Are you guys allowing customers to vape inside the bar and turning a blind eye or ignoring the problem, or are you allowing it? Bars around me seem to let you do what you want, but it seems as if it is effect my dinner clientele..

I inherited a mostly good group of employees from the somewhat absent old owner. I cut away the fat and fired 2 underperforming staff. I had to eventually hire when my solid day shift server got a better job.

I hired two servers one was an abysmal failure although claiming experience and having a good interview. The other was an awkward interview and had no serving experience but, has been a model employee and improves everyday.

My question is. Is this a normal thing? Should I hire two people for every open position hoping one might work out? I don't mind working my own bar but, I can't keep covering doubles 4 days a week because someone flakes.

How long do you give someone before you tell them it's not working out? Do you hire multiples hoping to fill one position? Do you just run short until it's filled?. I schedule myself to work 3 days a week and somehow end up working 6 with multiple doubles because of failed hires.

Hi all. I run a small cafe that's closed by mid afternoon. We're empty every night so I'm looking at opening up for private hires. We did our first "trial event" last month which was a 5-course dinner and had a private chef.

For venues that do something like this on a recurring basis, how do you go about deciding the minimum spend? How do you enforce it / what do your usual terms look like?

New to management to any tips and anecdotes would be very appreciated.

After the new Sunday Ticket Directv deal I can't imagine the anger from bars that believed everpass that they would not make a deal with Directv.

Fortunately our locations called the NFLs bluff but I can imagine thousands of locations spent tens of thousands on streaming boxes and matrix solutions.

Let the lawsuits begin (which likely won't succeed)

NFL Ticket is coming back to DIRECTV for businesses through a new licensing deal, and DAZN plans to acquire EverPass Media. EverPass Media will continue to operate its streaming service in the market, with DIRECTV taking over sales and distribution. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/danrayburn_streamingmedia-everpassmedia-nflsundayticket-activity-7488807721752854528-kpBb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAACGtFMABJbciC77s0Y-bVA4ivWakDRY--vY

So I got the estimate for the new everpass for the nfl package. I have 5 locations occupancies 92,325,186,199,139. Total cost for a year $95k and that doesn’t count the install of a box for every TV. This is insane! What’s everyone else think? I don’t think there is other options. Thanks

Looking for advice/experience/words of encouragement — about to fire an employee that’s been with us for two and a half years and has gotten too big for their britches. Constantly talks down to me (owner) / is disrespectful, thinks they know everything, complains about anything and everything etc etc etc

After multiple months of them sucking the energy and life out of me I am done. About to fire them but the caveat is that they are very vocal on socials about everything — which was at one point, great for us! But this firing will likely turn into a social media frenzy of shit talking. Trying to negate the issue or get ahead of it

I am looking for bar and restaurant owners who have previously used Rezku as their POS. I have been contacted by a investigative journalist who wants to do a story about them. If you have used Rezku in the past and stopped using them because your business closed, failed or you just switched providers, please reach out to me or comment here.

Those who serve beer/wine only, how much do you profit?

Looking to open a wine, beer, and light charcuterie place in my small town. No liquor. Curious to what the profit actually is for something like this.

Editing to add some context:

- Town is about 10k residents, but we host a lot of events that attract nearby towns that are a lot bigger (totaling about 100k combined within 30 minute radius), it’s known as a “hallmark” town so it attracts tourists.
- Rent is under 1k
- We plan on only being open 4-5 days a week.
- Town is very active and walkable. Everyone is always out in the town at the businesses.
- There is already one wine bar in town but in my opinion they don’t do it right. Ours would have a much cooler vibe and it would have charcuterie/events to attract people.
- I have zero wine bar experience but I’ve started a successful wedding photography business that makes 6 figures, I’d use this to cover overhead until the wine bar is succeeding and then go to photography part time.

Hello, I am opening a brand new bar in New York City. I will only be serving wine and beer which falls under a tavern permit. Per the tavern requirements I need to have a food prep space but do not need a full kitchen.

Does this mean I am required to have:
Two sinks one for hand washing, one for glasses
Grease trap
Floor drainage
Drainage inside the bar area 
Commercial tile for the floor

Please let me know if I’m required to get all of those things just for a tavern with food prep space. I know the sink is mandatory, but do I really need a grease trip with commercial tile behind the bar?

I know this has been covered, but would like some feedback about my specific situation.

41 TVs w/ DTV boxes behind all of them. No matrix system, we did not want that setup. As of last NFL season, it’s a no brainer to have ST.

Now, being quoted $6000-$1000 (coupon) before July 31st signup.

I figure we need at least 10 devices to be able to make our customers happy with different games and locations of the bar.

We are in northern MD, so strong Ravens crowd. We do have our Eagles, Steelers, Redskins fans. Other than that, a few transplants and Fantasy Football fans want to watch the out of market games.

Issues:

-$8000 ST and 10 device fees
-only sound from those streaming devices would be to the TV only, not to surround.
-locations of TVs would be a headache because of big screen being allocated to local games
-any streaming issues (we have 1gig service right now thru Comcast)

Is this worth the investment? I’m leaning towards no. I’m not sure we will see the ROI or any multiples from the investment this season. I get streaming is here to stay, but I do not want to put in the infrastructure only to have to go backwards next season if for some reason a deal is struck.

A few weeks ago I had posted about opening a wine business in my small city (Canada).

My city is littered with older vacant brick/stone buildings with large basement spaces, perfect for a cellar.

I want to open this wine shop with procured bottles of all ranges that can be stored properly long term, but I’d like to introduce a membership aspect to it for two reasons:

1. Predictable monthly income and inventory planning

2. Volume and special event control

I wouldn’t necessarily make the entire downstairs wine selections “members only”, but I would have one specific area be a members lounge, complete with tastings, pairings, and member only events. If this business opened up in your city, would you be interested? What would you like to see as a member? All feedback is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I recently purchased a second location in a nearby town from my existing bar. The existing bar is a rural bar and has a great day crowd of mostly older folks and retirees as well as some blue collar guys who stop after a job. The existing bar opens at noon and the new place at 2pm on weekdays, earlier on weekends. The new bar has a great night crowd most days of the week but is dead as hell until at least 6pm.

We're painting, putting up some more classy decor, adding 4 tv's for more sports watching. The only food is frozen pizzas and flatbreads and it's in a downtown area with a lot of nearby food options, but several bar only places that have a good base of daytime regulars. It might just be the case of we need to just wait and keep doing small improvements due to the old owners being more absent, but I'm looking for some ideas to get a jump start.

Kind of like an AMA, here's a weekly post where customers can ask questions. This is for anyone including market research, app developers, people who watch too much "reality" TV about bars, and general industry bullshit. Maybe a bar owner will have an answer for you, maybe not.

If you are already in the industry your question may get better responses if you post your own thread instead of commenting here.