Service, Unique ‘Tasting Card’ Concept Tap into Sales at Bottles & Barrels, LLC
The opportunity to “try it before you buy it” is drawing cheers from a growing list of customers at Bottles & Barrels, LLC.
- published: 2024/02/02
- contact: NBDC Communications - Nebraska Business Development Center
- phone: 402.554.6256
- email: kjefferson@unomaha.edu
Elkhorn, Nebraska – The opportunity to “try it before you buy it” is drawing cheers from a growing list of customers at Bottles & Barrels, LLC, a year-old business in the Elkhorn area featuring a wide array of beers, wines and spirits available for sampling.
Open since February 2023 at 5331 S 204th Ave. in Omaha, Bottles & Barrels offers more than 2,500 spirits, wines and beers from around the world. At Bottles & Barrels, customers may pour their own samples at several “tasting stations.” There are two wine stations with a rotating selection of 16 wine varietals, and two spirits stations, one with a variety of eight spirits, and the other a rotating selection of eight bourbons. The “beer wall” has 22 beers on tap, as well as four pre-batched cocktails.
During their first visit, customers show their ID, become registered and receive a “tasting card.” Whatever they sample that visit is electronically logged on their tasting card, and they pay for the samples before leaving, along with any retail purchases they decide to make.
“We scan the card at the register and it pops up with what was tasted and how much,” owner Jimmy Ellsworth says. “It really is like opening a tab in the middle of a liquor store.”
Customers benefit from the ability to taste a product before they buy, and from the more than 20 years Ellsworth spent working on the beer supply and wholesale side before opening Bottles & Barrels with his wife, Becky.
Becky Ellsworth is originally from Elkhorn. The couple moved to Omaha twice, most recently in 2019.
With the move came an opportunity, Ellsworth says. “Nebraska is one of the few states that allow for a liquor license for on and off premise sales under the same address,” he says. He saw that as a chance to open a business that lets people pour their own samples and make purchases, and thought “wouldn’t that be cool?”
Becky offered her support, he says. “Actually, she said something like, ‘Why not stop talking about it and do it?’” Ellsworth says, chuckling. “So I joke that this is all her fault.”
Prior to opening, Ellsworth wrote a preliminary business plan and took it to the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he worked with Kiley Phelps, the Omaha Center Director of America’s SBDC – Nebraska, a program of the NBDC.
Phelps says Ellsworth wanted to ensure the business was economically viable before he made the leap, so she helped create different representations of financial forecasts and scenarios that he could use in decision-making. “I think one element contributing to his success is the experience he brings,” she says. “When he started Bottles & Barrels he was already familiar with his supply chain, which is a big part of his operations.”
Ellsworth says the guidance of the NBDC and Phelps was instrumental in refining his business plan and fine-tuning expectations. “It was incredibly helpful,” he says. “I told Becky several times I can’t believe this is a free service.”
He says three factors distinguish Bottles & Barrels from other liquor outlets: selection, service and convenience. “We are robust across all three categories, and service is of utmost importance,” he says. “We greet everyone who walks in the door, and we’ve built a loyal clientele, many who we know by first names.
Another feature is the Bottles & Barrels rewards program. Customers earn five points for every dollar spent to achieve membership levels of bronze through platinum, along with pre-paid tasting cards. For example, a total of 1,500 points qualifies customers for “silver” membership and a $15 pre-paid tasting card, while 3,000 points achieves “gold” status and earns a $30 tasting card.
The program also qualifies members for advance notice of promotions and sales, like an exclusive shipment of a rare bourbon.
Ellsworth says his reward comes from fulfilling a dream for him and Becky. “We’re building a place where customers truly feel welcome and appreciated; like on the old ‘Cheers” television show, a place where everybody knows your name,” he says. “And, along the way, we’ve built a one-of-a-kind business model that’s furthering our ambitions for multiple locations.”
“I told Becky several times I can’t believe this is a free service.”