Today we’d like to introduce you to Craig Kinley.
Craig, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
After removing myself from a 20-year career in wireless telecommunication at 38YO, I was nominated for a leadership program in South Carolina called the Liberty Fellowship (Aspen Institute partner). In the program you are tasked with bringing forth a project to improve you community or within the state. Liberty Fellow’s goal is to “move SC forward”. I created a startup incubator concept in Anderson SC where I am from, gained $750k in state funds however wanted to teach myself small business startup before being the leader of the incubator and assisting others with developing and instituting their dream through the incubator. Therefore, as I worked through the 3 years of magic with the startup of the incubator, I sat down with a group of colleagues and asked, “What are we missing in downtown Anderson, SC?” I was driving 30 min to a neighboring city (Greenville, SC) to get good craft beer that I was used to in Chicago, IL where I spent 10 of my 20 years in wireless telecom world being raised by a pack of telecom wolves. We discussed the concept, I read through the 10K for Starbucks (being a corp geek this was fun), found that Starbucks was testing beer/wine in key markets and said, “Lets create a comfortable environment that serves craft beer/wine with great customer service”. Two months later we had a business model and logo. We began testing the market for those that would support the dream and asked if they wanted to join our craft beer tribe? We would go to events and have beer tastings and in 3 months we circled 100+ people that had given us (through crowdfunding campaign) about $3-5k. Which half of the crowd funding money raised went back to provide them swag but they were the initial tribe that would “ring the cash register and supported our mission”. From the time we began discussing craft beer to the time we launched the first location was 6 months (Jan 2012-July 2012). We looked at our model 6 months later and went to an adjacent town that was up and coming (Spartanburg SC). We entered a Main Street Challenge contest in 2013 and won one of the slots whereby the city of Spartanburg gave us $12k for the first year to subsidize our lease cost. We launched Growler Haus 2 in Sept of 2013. In 2014 we continued to shape the company and were courted to another small upstate SC town Fountain Inn, SC. This town was a third in the size of population as the other existing locations, however had 50 manufacturing/logistics companies (many German companies) within 10 miles of Fountain Inn. In Oct of 2015 we had our third location up and running. In 2016 we fine-tuned things and began to focus on growth of the tribe and partnerships with local breweries. In 2017 we open two more locations (Greer, SC and Village of West Greenville). Greer did not last long (5 months) and we focused on launching our flag ship location in the fall of 2017. The Village of West Greenville is a magical place that we played in for a few years supporting events and decided to move in and be a part of the Village tribe. With our 4 locations and going into 2018, our goal is about our tribe/employees and partnerships. With 6,000 breweries across the US today we are focused on supporting the local/regional breweries that mutually support us. Growler Haus has 100+ taps in 4 upstate locations and is a prime partner for new and existing breweries to partner with and test/launch new beer in the upstate of SC market. We have performed a few collaborative beers with local breweries over the years, however just launched our new clean and crisp “Haus lager” that we created with Thomas Creek as local brewery that is 30 years tenured in the industry. 5 years in we have built a great brand, environment and most important a loyal tribe and leadership around our mission, without the last two items you are just a cool logo with maybe some good tasting beer. It takes a Haus tribe to be successful in this business.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There are always struggles in any start up business. Finding the right staff and leaders is where I spend most of my time outside of building relationships.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Growler Haus – what should we know?
The Growler Haus has 4 upstate of SC locations in Anderson, Spartanburg, Fountain Inn and Village of West Greenville. We offer the best craft beer/wine to the local communities we serve in a comfortable/embracing setting and delivering the best customer service possible.
We are known for the local craft beer and warm embracing environment (some say like walking into grandma’s living room to have a cold beverage with friends).
The growth we have embraced, the leadership we have at our locations and the communities that have embraced our concept to make it a reality.
Selection of craft beer/wine, comfortable environment and eye on customer service. As well as our passion for collaboration and being engaged with the communities we serve.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
There have been many mentors along the way, but the leadership of each location is really who deserves the credit. Without them the wheels on the daily Growler Haus bus do not move. Jarrett Lucero (Anderson Manager and Haus Ambassador), Roxy Doty (Spartanburg- our most senior leader and most creative out of all of us), Courtney Valette (Fountain Inn) and Marshall Mahoney (Village of West Greenville and has working at 3 of the 4-existing location over his tenure of 3+ years)
Each one of the above have embraced the vision and execute daily their own Haus tribe’s craft beer needs. These four and their subsequent staff are the true leaders that make Growler Haus what it is today.
Contact Info:
- Website:www.growlerhaus.com
- Phone:various
- Email:beer@growlerhaus.com
- Instagram:various
- Facebook:various
Image Credit:
Van Sullivan Jr. and Upstate Business Journal
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