We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Robert Theodorow a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Robert, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission in opening the first non-alcoholic bottle shop in the Midwest was to provide inclusive options for all people – sober serious, sober sometimes, and sober curious. I had personally tried a Dry January in 2021 and decided that my relationship with alcohol was no longer serving me well. If I was going to be the best version of dad, husband, and business owner, I would need to make some changes.

Early sobriety wasn’t too hard for me actually, as things were still mostly closed due to COVID restrictions, however I knew this would be changing soon and feared my FOMO of not drinking or hanging with friends at the local bars would cause me to roll back into my old ways. I needed a space, a third place, for people like me to go and not feel like they were missing out.

There were a handful of other NA bottle shops at the time, but they were on the coasts or in larger cites. How would this model translate to the Midwest, in a smaller market (~71,000)? I had no idea, but I decided to open up May 2022 and find out.

The goal was to create a space that has the feeling of a bottle shop, bar, and brewery all in one – and the concept of Generation NA was born.

After just 4 months, we expanded from our pop-up into a full 1,300sf retail location on Main Street. We currently have 175+ non-alcoholic beers (8 taps), hemp-infused beverages, wines, spirits, and an 80s arcade. Occasionally we have live music and also offer tastings every weekend. The community response is beyond what I could have ever imagined or forecasted.

Customer stories of how we’ve helped make sobriety (or at least cutting back on alcohol) easier for so many in our community really drive the business and keep us going. The experience has been extremely rewarding and we can’t wait to see where it takes us next!

Robert, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My background isn’t in anything related to hospitality, retail, or bartending. I attended Purdue University and graduated with a degree in Computer Graphics Technology. I own and operation a local software and media production agency (SFP.net) in addition to Generation NA, and have been running that for 21 years.

So how does a web developer get into the NA space? Well that’s a question I had to ask myself as well. I knew my local connections (making websites for restaurants / bars / small businesses) was a plus, but would anyone take me seriously? I decided to start an Instagram page, register a URL (NA.Beer), and find out.

Early on I also signed up as a brand ambassador for Wellbeing Brewing, based in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. I had to get my foot into the space and this was a great opportunity.

Our social media following almost immediately grew like wildfire. The engagement on posting / reviewing drinks in the space was unlike anything I had seen for our agency, or even any of our clients. We’re in a small market, so now having over 12k followers on Instagram is beyond mindboggling – but people are really resonating with our brand and mission. Bringing new alcohol alternatives to the community (and beyond).

I’m constantly looking to bring new brands to the US and have done so with a few UK brands such as Mash Gang, Low Tide Brewing, and Sheep In Wolf’s Clothing. People will drive for hours every weekend to get their hands on these amazing brews.

We also offer NA flights, allowing customers to try products before buying – a different theme (i.e. – spiced rums) every weekend.

Once customers try the products, they come back.

Consumer education is also key, as a new product category – non-alc doesn’t mean non-buzz, unless you want it to. We offer many want so relax and unwind with adaptogens, nootropics, mushrooms, kava, and even hemp-derived THC and CBD products.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I started off very small and bootstrapped Generation NA. I had a software agency and during COVID most people were working from home – our our unused loft / bar area was a perfect location to get started…perfect because it was free.

That first Friday we opened I purchased around 12 cases of beer, 1 case of spirits, and 1 case of wines, not knowing what to expect. Maybe $600 all-in. If nobody showed up, I would just drink them myself.

Despite being on the third floor of an office building, and having no signage, we had 30-35 people come up and see us that first day. That was the moment I knew this was going to be big.

I borrowed a bit of money from my agency to get coolers, more inventory, proper shelving, and more. That has since been paid back and both businesses are debt free (and running in the black from day one).

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Social Media – I’m on Instagram and Facebook often to promote our tastings, events, new products, and more. We gain around 40 new followers every day so our potential customer list is quickly growing.

Contact Info:

• Website: NA.Beer
• Instagram: @generationna

Image Credits
SFP