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Growth Chains: World of BeerGrowth Chains: World of Beer

Industry veteran focuses on beverages over food to create social gathering place

Erin Dostal, Associate Editor

May 27, 2013

5 Min Read
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In its current form World of Beer doesn’t serve much food. In fact, the tavern chain might never make food its priority, its owner said. For now it’s focused on its core offering: local craft beer.

Paul Avery, a well-known veteran of the casual-dining segment and former chief operating officer at Outback Steakhouse Inc., or OSI, stepped in as president and chief executive of the 41-unit Tampa, Fla.-based craft-beer concept earlier this year after acquiring a controlling interest in the company. And after spending three months as its top executive, he said he’s upbeat about its growth prospects.

But Avery remains adamant about keeping the concept pure, he said. Although the 100-percent franchised company is in the process of rolling out a limited menu to several of its locations, “We’re not creating a restaurant,” Avery said.

Instead, World of Beer allows customers to order from local restaurants that deliver so patrons can come in and have pizza and beer one day and sushi and beer the next, Avery said.

But beer is unquestionably the focus of the concept. On average, each World of Beer location has about 500 beers and 50 taps, and as many beers as possible are locally sourced, Avery said.

When World of Beer was launched about six years ago, it was a retail store where people could purchase bottled beers. People started enjoying the beers on premises, and so the company constructed a bar around the retail coolers.

Over time, Avery said, “[The concept] morphed into a tavern.”

Avery doesn’t view his current job at World of Beer as being dramatically different from what he did at OSI.

“We sold a hell of a lot of beer at Outback,” he said. “We brought in beers from New Zealand and here and there. It was a different manner of selling, but we had the same goal.

“[OSI] really hit on what we believe today to be a sustained trend into the future,” he added.

Within the next year or so, Avery said World of Beer plans to add about 40 new locations, with the possibility of international development in the future. Target markets for expansion are Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Texas.

“We look at the production and distribution and the consumption of craft beers, and … it has just continued to grow,” he said.

Indeed, beer is growing increasingly popular in the United States. There are nearly 2,400 breweries in the country, said Julia Herz, craft-beer program director at the Brewers Association. That’s the most there have been since before the Prohibition era, she said.

Brewpubs and taprooms are opening regularly, she said, adding that Americans have expanded their appetites for different kinds of beer.

“I love to say that no longer does a light American lager satisfy every beer occasion,” she said. “[Consumers are] really into tasting.”

That’s what makes World of Beer and places like it stand out, Herz said. They allow customers to explore different kinds of beer — and for a beer fan there’s nothing better.

“These places have become an absolute destination,” she said. “That’s why you’re seeing growth in these concepts.”

However, Avery is not completely shutting the door on foodservice at World of Beer. A limited menu that includes late-night options currently is available at the Tampa World of Beer location, he said. The idea is to offer something that complements rather than detracts from World of Beer’s drink offerings. The chain also said it would be rolling the menu out into eight or nine outlets in the near future.

“We’re doing a really exceptional egg sandwich with Tater Tots, chicken and waffles, and more,” Avery said. “I think that’s some really progressive late-night fare.”

And despite the fact that World of Beer is adding a menu that will include 12 to 15 items that will vary by location, Avery said he doesn’t plan to take the delivery option away.

“That works well,” he said, adding that he doesn’t want to diminish what options consumers have come to expect at World of Beer.

“What I’m hearing is that consumers are preferring more and more to [experience a] social environment that serves alcoholic beverages and that has food, too, versus a restaurant that also has alcoholic beverages,” he said.

And, at least for the moment, not all of World of Beers’ locations have kitchens.

But can a beer concept survive without making food a priority? Stephen Beaumont, a contributor to Nation’s Restaurant News and author of “The World Atlas of Beer,” thinks so.

“Craft beer typically has a higher profit margin than major-brewery beer,” Beaumont said. “Without the kitchen, of course, you don’t have the kitchen overhead.

“I’ve spoken to people who’ve run beer-oriented places who have said they wished they could tear out their kitchens,” he added.

Two of the most famous beer halls in the United States, d.b.a. in New York and Toronado in San Francisco, both allow food deliveries, he said, noting that food isn’t the core of the business at those locations, either.

Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president, foodservice strategies at research firm WD Partners, said he expects the World of Beer brand will evolve to have more food offerings over time. The reason, he said, is simple: The competition will likely beat them to it.

If a concept like World of Beer offers 120 beers, for example, and another concept offers 100 beers and good food, the second will have more customers, he said.

It’s about driving frequency and reach, Lombardi said. Customers should want to come as often as possible for as many reasons as possible.

Contact Erin Dostal at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @erindostal.

About the Author

Erin Dostal

Associate Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Phone: 212-204-4387
Follow @erindostal

Erin Dostal covers the Southeast U.S. at Nation’s Restaurant News. She previously worked at Direct Marketing News where she covered trends in database marketing and e-commerce. Prior to moving to New York in 2011, she was a reporter at Las Vegas Sun and a launching editor of VEGAS INC, a business magazine covering the largest industries in Southern Nevada: tourism, gaming, entertainment, real estate and—of course—restaurants. She holds a journalism degree from Northwestern University.

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