And Now For Something Completely Different

And Now For Something Completely Different

Concept Bars

When did a bar stop being, well, just a bar? Clinton Cawood investigates the pros and cons of using an off-the-shelf mould for your venue

Been to a speakeasy-style bar recently? Thought you might have. Cast your mind back to just a few years ago, however, and you’d barely have even heard the term being whispered in the UK.

It’s become an example of a concept that’s relatively easy for new bar operators to emulate – a trendy, tried-and-tested bandwagon to hop on, that will carry you to certain on-trade success without any costly market research, or any need to reinvent the wheel. The concept comes with pre-fabricated décor cues, drinks offerings…

Or maybe you’d prefer a tiki bar? Coming right up…

And maybe that’s what new bar owners need, particularly in places like London where the noise generated by so many new openings is so deafening that it helps to have a clear, easily-understandable USP.

But can a bar just be a bar, without needing a concept – or gimmick, as some might see it? The concern, presumably, is that this would leave your saloon lost in the crowd. On the other hand, stepping outside of these well-defined categories might make it easier to survive when
the inexorable tide of bar trends moves on to something else.

For some – and this inevitably shows in their bars – it’s critical to have a well-defined concept. Adam Freeth, managing director of the recently opened Shaker & Company in Holborn, came to discover this in the process of setting up his bar. ‘I wanted to just open a venue with quality food and drink, excellent service and entertainment,’ he says. ‘The reality is that we’re not in Soho, and location’s
vital for any business, so along the way we’ve developed a much stronger proposition and identity.’

From starting with no concept at all, the final proposition at Shaker & Co is quite specific: ‘A New Orleans-inspired cocktail bar with soul food and live music,’ in his own words. For Freeth, as for many others, the benefits of creating a more defined offering are worth it. ‘It’s great for PR and marketing, as it gives people something that they can identify with and are intrigued by.’

‘You can’t just set up a bar, turn on the lights, and hope for the best’ Stevie Thomas

‘I don’t believe you can start the development of a bar without a well thought-out concept,’ agrees Stevie Thomas, and you’d believe him to look at any of his Wonder Lounge bars. They’re ‘concept’ to the extreme – Lewis Carroll with a modern twist – suffusing the décor, drinks list, and anything else Wonder Lounge-related, with Mad Hatters and Cheshire Cats. ‘You can’t just set up a bar, turn on the lights, and hope for the best. You’ve got to draw customers in with something different, intriguing and, hopefully, something they’ve never experienced before.’

‘WE ARE ALL INDIVIDUALS’

There are some necessary distinctions to make between certain terms here. Justyn Bell at Hausbar in Bristol clarifies: ‘I think the terms “concept” and “theme” often get confused in their use. For me, a concept goes into the sort of service one expects from a venue, and the style of drinks, so in effect it’s about a choice of clientele as much as venue or décor.’

Fluid Movement’s Tristan Stephenson tries to clarify with yet another term. ‘One of the most important things to consider when opening a bar is the USP. In many cases this USP might be the concept, design or theme of the bar.’ So having a selling point is important, but having a defined concept is less critical? ‘I think it’s fair to say that the top 50 bars in the UK will have an overriding theme or concept that defines them and makes them unique.’

Paul Moran, operations director at Living Ventures, the Cheshire-based team behind venues such as The Alchemist and Australasia, both in Manchester, believes that ‘a concept is about making a customer understand what you want’. Crucially, it’s the implementation of your concept that’s important, if that’s the path you choose to go down.

‘What’s stopping you being one of ten-a-penny? That’s where the individual operator comes in,’ he explains. ‘Following a trend is probably the safer option, but only if you’re able to forget [the formula] at the right time too. After all, the really big successes are the unique, one-off ventures.’

Moran takes this idea further, taking into account the possibility of rolling out a concept to a second bar, and beyond. ‘The more transparently you can get your ideas across to other people, the better,’ he says, meaning this to apply not only to customers, but to management staff too.

Wonder Lounge’s Thomas is another operator who’s all too aware of the potential for rolling out a good concept. And he’s certainly not lying awake at night longing for a simpler time when
a drinking establishment could just be a drinking establishment.

‘You’re building a brand, not a bar,’ he says. ‘Most new start-ups forget that, but it’s about the bigger picture, not just the short term.’ And he faithfully puts this into practice: the Wonder Lounge brand continues to expand (now in Sutton and Banbury, with another in Sevenoaks in the pipeline at the time of writing), there’s also a new Wonderland Nightclub on the way.

BACK TO BASICS

There are those, of course, who have created bars with no thought of concept or prevailing trends – and quite successfully, too. Alastair Burgess believes this to be the case with his Hoxton Square bar, Happiness Forgets. ‘All we’re trying to evoke is a time when people just went to a bar to have a good time, and chat to their friends. Our concept is no more than great drinks, made by knowledgeable bartenders, in a friendly environment,’ he says. ‘I’d agree that maybe [a concept bar] is a way to get column inches – it’s taken us 10 months to get going – but we’ve managed to get up-and-running for an eighth of the cost of some of the speakeasy-style bars that have opened in London recently.’

Back in Bristol, this time with The Colour Inn, James Koch sounds sceptical too: ‘There certainly are a few speakeasy joints popping up… dim lights, jazz: it’s safe, isn’t it?’

There is perhaps the perception that not finding a trend or concept for a new bar opening is the easy option, and the one that requires the least research or effort, but the same can be said of following a formula that’s proven to be successful. Moran offers a middle road: ‘Research is the most important thing. You might see the results of that and say, “Everyone’s doing speakeasies, so I want to do something unique”.’

DO OR DO NOT
SAFETY IN NUMBERS Reasons to get that concept for your tiki bar ship-shape	YOU CAN GO YOUR OWN WAY All bars are unique as snowflakes, man…
‘Having a strong concept is crucial. It’s the seed that will hopefully grow into a strong oak tree – it helps build your brand personality from the start rather than chasing your own tail.’ Stevie Thomas, Wonder Lounge	‘We’ve managed to get known, to get a following, purely on serving great drinks and the fact that people know that the service is excellent. A lot of industry people find it really refreshing. We’re just a bar. What is wrong with just being a really good bar?’ Alastair Burgess, Happiness Forgets
‘If we said “We’re just opening a bar called Shaker & Company – come and see what we do…” I think it would be much harder to convince people to come and find us.’ Adam Freeth, Shaker & Company	‘I believe that a bar with a very specific style (and one that relies upon that to pull in trade) may have a short life-expectancy, but a bar that takes the concept of having great service, drinks served really well regardless of style, and a great atmosphere, will have a better life expectancy.’ Justyn Bell, Hausbar
‘A strong concept that aims to attract a portion of the market (and continue to attract them back again) is pretty important for the success of the business.’ Tristan Stephenson, Fluid Movement	‘A concept probably helps to identify key qualities as early as possible. But evolution is good too. We drink with Darwin.’ James Koch, The Colour Inn

Stephenson also recognises the importance of finding a compromise here. ‘The difficulty arises when a bar becomes so stylised and focused on a concept that it pigeonholes itself. This isn’t too much of a problem in the capital, as the target market is so vast that you could probably open a bar themed around a retirement home, serve only tea-based cocktails and play music out of a gramophone, and someone would still call it their favourite bar. But in other parts of the country, where the cocktail-drinking-market is smaller, there is a risk of alienating a high percentage of the market.’

SIMPLY A COCKTAIL BAR

It seems that while London bars might be reliant on strong concepts to differentiate themselves, bars in other parts of the country could run a risk if they take on concepts that are too specific.

When asked about concept, Koch’s broad response is illustrative of his lack of reliance on easy categorisation. ‘We’re constantly developing new drinks, menus, and taste-matching events. The local artists whose work we show are mostly fellow Bristolians. When we get excited about a new track, we want to share it!’ Yes, but what kind of bar is The Colour Inn? ‘We’re proud to operate a Bristol cocktail bar,’ he says simply. It’s not the kind of thing you could imagine a London bar owner saying.

‘There are a few speakasy joints popping up... it’s safe, isn’t it?’ James Koch

Ultimately, going down the themed route or not is about a bar doing what it needs to do to survive, and whether having a specific theme or concept is a benefit or a threat to its longevity. ‘Trends will come and go, and some will undoubtedly fare better than others,’ says Stephenson. ‘It’s predicting how and when this will happen that’s the trick.’

Which, in theory at least, isn’t such a difficult concept.

VENUE VS CONCEPT

As much as you may have a distinct concept which you’re dying to implement in your new bar, there are going to be outside influences, positive and otherwise, to bear in mind.

A major one, and one that can have a particularly interesting impact on your eventual concept, is the venue itself.

‘This is probably partially related to the costs involved with gutting a site in order to fit it out with décor that fits a concept. Complete refits do still happen, of course, but the money factor can restrict the extent to which a concept is realised,’ says Fluid Movement’s Tristan Stephenson.

Living Ventures’ Paul Moran is of a similar opinion. ‘You’ll find a lot more of that nowadays, with people having more problems with financing. You’re going to be led, particularly in the current market, to be innovative and offer better value for money.’ This has some interesting implications on whether to go for a tried-and-tested concept, or carve out a new path. ‘You’re not going to blow a million pounds on something that might not work, but at the same time, the same old stale ideas won’t do,’ he says.

There’s undoubtedly a positive side to allowing your venue to dictate the resulting concept, at least to some extent. As Hausbar’s Justyn Bell puts it: ‘I certainly think that a bar concept has to change with the choice of venue, and that location should really be the deciding factor in the concept.’

Editorial feature from Imbibe Magazine – January/February 2012