Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Angela Hudson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Angela, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
I love everything about wine from the way it looks, smells and taste. But as much as I love wine I love the social aspect of enjoying a great glass of wine with friends just as much.
So in 2017 I decided to open up a Wine tasting bar. I just wanted a small space with a boutique feel to taste wine and sell retail bottles of only Michigan made wine. I wanted people to be able to buy Michigan Made Wine from all over the state just in one location.
With a small down payment and an idea I wrote up a business plan and went to the bank. I felt good about my presentation and my business plan but apparently they did not as my business loan was denied. I went home cried for two days the went to another bank few days later and was approved.
I then had to get a liquor license even though there were none available in my county. So myself and my husband started making cold calls to people that had their licenses in escrow asking if they wanted to sell till we found a taker!
Next was finding a store front because you can’t apply to buy a liquor license without a brick and mortar building. I was thinking small boutique but when we walked into our 100+ yr old building my husband was sold. Me I was slightly terrified of this 2000 ft space and had no idea what I was going to fill it with.
So we have a building and a liquor license but no idea how to open or run a bar as neither of us have ever worked in a restaurant or bar before in our lives. So we started looking for a manager with experience and found someone with tons of experience and personality that meshed with me well.
Our building was a bit of a mess so we spent 5 months working on the interior ripping up layer after layer of flooring that had been stacked on top of previous flooring, tearing out drywall ect. Our building has the original wood slat ceiling and we found the original wood floors !
We originally started carrying Michigan made Wine & Craft Beer and serving charcuterie only. Over the past almost 8yrs we have expanded to Michigan Made Liquor and Cocktails to a full kitchen as well. We have brought in a Chef who makes fresh homemade food and we have become known for our Wine Cocktails. We host events almost every day of the month from live music to Comedy shows. And in 2023 we built on an enclosed Pavilion off the back of our building to host private catered parties.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a wife, mother and grandmother. I have been a Registered Nurse for almost 20 yrs mostly in the ER. I currently still work as a registered nurse part time at a local hospital in addition to running the day to day at the bar. I have a great Manager, Desi who is invaluable to me. She is not just an employee she has become family to me and the rest of my family.
What I think I would like the public to know most is that in this very difficult industry we try very hard to put out great food and drinks while always being creative and true to who we are and what we do.
Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?
Near DEATH…….COVID
COVID almost killed our industry.. When COVID hit and they closed bars the first round I had already been thinking about buying an igloo for my patio for winter months as a novelty. So when the shut down happened I quickly ordered 3 igloos for my patio. Which was a good move because within a short period of time they became almost impossible to find. During the shut downs igloo dining was the only dining allowed, we were booked solid open to close in them.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I started my business FB page 5 months before I opened my bar. So I documented the process as we went along with the remodel ect. I think that was huge, I already had probably over a thousand followers before we opened the doors. I now in less then 8 yrs have over 21,000 followers. For a small town Bar we do great on FB I do over 100 post a month between FB and Instagram. I post a ton of “people” picts and the public loves pictures of cocktails.
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