Redefining Cocktail Culture: Death & Co.'s Alex Day

It was thought that to drink alcohol was to live a life shadowed by death. The Death & Co. team has been offering a warm embrace to those who shine after dusk for over a decade now. Its foundational elements are a love of great people and great drinks. Today, we chat with Alex Day, proprietor of the world-famous Death & Co., a bar that redefined cocktail culture for an entire generation. 

Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Click here to book time on my personal calendar.

Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide.

Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

LINKS

https://www.deathandcompany.com/

SHOW NOTES

• Dave Kaplan & Ravi DeRossi started Death & Co in 2006
• Alex was captivated by the youthful, innovative approach to drinks
• They opened 3 branches of Death & Co, NYC, LA & Denver
• Early mistakes
• Not knowing what to do as new entrepreneurs
• Bars ran themselves
• “Failing forward”
• 2 years of growth by luck
• Difficult neighbour for years
• Legal implications
• Biggest lessons
• It is the owners’ job to find and cultivate good people
• Provide strong guidance
• Build a strong culture
• There is no such thing as smooth sailing
• Foundation issues in the industry
• Hospitality workers are not employed or compensated well
• Astronomical rents
• High operating costs
• Poor margins
• At this time of not operating, they are rethinking every aspect of the business
• Realigning focus on what the customer wants
• Avoiding getting hung up on vanity items like perfect cocktail recipe
• Bringing focus back to the consumer
• What will they want post-lockdown?
• Reevaluating how to relate to vendors and improve vendor relationships
• Improving the bars from an environment perspective
• Reviewing relationships with landlords
• How things could be different post-Covid
• Local cultures in each city
• Social norms
• Improving as employers
• Benefits they already offer
• Health insurance to full-time staff
• Wellness credits
• Potential ideas for future
• Offering health insurance to part-time staff
• Creating clearer avenues for staff to grow in the company
• What set Death & Co apart as a brand
• Meticulous focus on ingredients
• Passion about the craft
• Human, genuine, authenticity in their delivery
• Being serious about the craft but also having fun
• Harnessing individuality throughout the business
• Allowing bartenders to be creative
• Each bar is not a copy of the other
• Individual menus
• Different appearance
• Using social media as a marketing engine
• Industry typically focusses on bragging or nice photos of food/drink
• Creating a more community based social media presence