Today we’d like to introduce you to John Couture
Hi John, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am a lifelong resident of Kansas City, MO, and I’m old enough now that I’ve had several careers. After graduating from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, I began my working in media and public relations before moving to video production and working as a video producer for a production company in downtown Kansas City.
In 2012, I launched Bier Station, the first craft beer tasting bar/bottle shop in the Midwest. The concept combined to-go packaged beer sales with a traditional pub atmosphere including taps and food. For several years in a row, Bier Station was voted as one of the top 100 Beer Bars in the United States by Craft Beer Magazine and the Best Beer Bar in Every State for Missouri.
In 2023, I sold Bier Station to City Barrel Brewing. Following COVID and a full decade in the restaurant/bar business, I was ready for a change. Later that year, I started developing a new concept that would ultimately become Local Liquid, which opened in December 2024.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh, there have been many challenges. We had to change local liquor laws to open the Bier Station concept in Kansas City. The craft beer industry went from white hot when we opened in 2012 to stagnant before COVID. Since COVID, finding employees was a huge challenge and the craft beer industry is contracting due to the overabundance of small breweries that opened within the last 10 years. That helped fuel my desire to try something new.
With Local Liquid, we hit a major snag early on. The day after I applied for a liquor license for the business, the City of Kansas City, MO enacted a 6-month moratorium on all new packaged liquor licenses for the city while they reevaluated the City’s liquor licensing process. It ground our progress to a halt and pushed our opening from Spring 2024 to December 2024.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We believe Local Liquid is an entirely new concept. We are an online, curated marketplace supporting local beverage makers in the Kansas City metropolitan region across categories including craft beer, coffee, kombucha, spirits, wine, juices, sodas, seltzers and more. Customers can shop for whatever local beverages they want at our online store and either pick up their order at our warehouse, or select a delivery option that we will be offering in Spring 2025.
We also plan to feature beverage delivery to workplaces that want to offer a variety of local beverages to their clients, staff, and customers. The fun part is we are developing this new concept as we go. We spent six months before opening talking to consumers and asking for input, so it’s rewarding to finally put that input into motion.
We also want to be creative and flexible so we develop the business according to what our customers ask for. For instance, because alcohol delivery requires checking ID, we are asking customers if they want to add secondary users (over 21) who can accept orders if they aren’t home — like partners or neighbors. Or, we’ve already been approached by some workplaces asking if their staff can make a group order for delivery to the work site. It’ll be very interesting to see how this develops.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Yes. When I operated Bier Station as a bar/restaurant during COVID, it was a gigantic challenge for us — just like it was for most service industry businesses. We always followed CDC guidelines and, luckily, we had a very progressive minded customer base that generally appreciated our efforts to keep the business as safe as possible.
But, there still was an incredible emotional and financial strain on our employees and the business. While we struggled to find consistent help, I also understood how many in the service industry felt taken advantage of with low wages and uncaring management, and didn’t want to return post COVID.
I feel one thing we as Americans need to really understand is that the U.S. tipping model is outdated and unbalanced. The best answer is probably moving away from tips and more toward a living wage model. But, I’m not sure how much extra Americans are willing to pay for services like restaurants, bars, and coffee, to make that work. And, many top-end bartenders and servers don’t want to give up the promise of big tips. I guess time will tell.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.localliquid.com
- Instagram: localliquidkc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/localliquid/
