We were lucky to catch up with Samuel Carter recently and have shared our conversation below.

Samuel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Kevin Knutson (one of the other Unleashed owners) worked as corporate security officers for a metro area hospital. While it was an exciting job it was not something we wanted to do forever. One slow day while sitting in the security office, slacking off, watching videos on Facebook we came across a feature on a similar concept in Denver. Our thought was “why couldn’t we do that?”

We got in contact with Dawn Uremovich a long time vet of the restaurant industry to see what steps we could take to make it a reality. After a hundred ups and downs we landed on the perfect location, secured funding and got to work.

Providing an indoor place for dogs in the winter was a big hit! It was amazing that no one had beat us to it. Our aim was to provide a place for true best friends, being owners and their fourlegged family members. With that as our sole directive I think we created something really special.

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 think the most interesting thing about us and Unleashed Hounds and Hops is how completely improbable the whole thing was. Being two guys who were home cooks and beer enthusiasts to owners of a bar and restaurant is quite the switch. To do this with a one of a kind dog park, bar and restaurant was another challenge entirely.

At Unleashed Hounds and Hops our business is designed around providing the best experience for dogs and their owners. We have staff to monitor play and clean. We have structures for dogs to play on. We have indoor and a gorgeous outdoor patio for dogs to play regardless of the weather. We work with local rescues to help raise money for dog related causes in the Twin Cities. Everything we do starts with dogs and we work from there.

That does not mean we neglect the other aspects of our business. We have scratch made elevated bar food, with products sourced from the best artisans in the Twin Cities. Our tap beers are curated from the best breweries in the Midwest, from as close as four blocks away and as The North Shore of Minnesota.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Unleashed Hounds and Hops opened six weeks before the first round of Covid-19 shutdowns. We opened unsure of how people would take to our concept… and were shocked by how overwhelming and huge of a success we were to start. However, things came to a screeching halt when Covid-19 started to become a national concern.

We complied, gave the food we had stocked up to our employees and shutdown. We waited, unsure of what was to come. This was a blessing in disguise as it allowed us to hone in on what mistakes we made in our first six weeks and correct them. We worked 40 hours a week, refining what we were and what we had to offer. So that when we were able to re-open it would be the best place possible. Without Covid-19 I’m sure Unleashed Hounds and Hops would be more successful on paper. But it is a business we would be a lot less proud to run. The work we put in during these difficult times created the best place in town for humans and their fourlegged family.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

We have never had issues with getting people to visit or business. Being that it is the only indoor/outdoor dog park, bar and restaurant in the Twin Cities we get a ton of first timers. For us the best strategy for growing clientele is to leave the absolute best impression possible.

We work hard to create a bit of a hometown bar feel. I’m not working today but I promise I could name 10 guests who showed up to play with their dogs. Our regulars and annual pass holders are our backbone. Our staff are amazing and they make everyone feel welcome. They know our guests orders, our guests dog names, our dog visitors quirks and favorite treats. This care for those who walk through our doors (human or dog) has been the number one strategy for steady growth and returning guests.

Contact Info:

• Website: Unleashedhoundsandhops.com
• Instagram: Unleashedhoundsandhops
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HoundsandHops