Damon Raque from BottleBank.com shares the intricate journey of establishing a unique wine vault concept, revealing the numerous challenges faced along the way. From selecting the perfect location to navigating complex regulations, Damon highlights the unexpected hurdles that arise in the liquor industry, emphasizing the importance of structural integrity in their wine storage solution. The conversation dives deep into the meticulous planning required to comply with various zoning laws and liquor licenses, illustrating that each municipality presents its own set of obstacles. With a blend of humor and insight, Damon discusses innovative solutions like carbon fiber wraps to reinforce floors, showcasing the creative problem-solving essential in entrepreneurship. As he reflects on the journey, he invites listeners to envision a vibrant community experience at Bottle Bank, promising that every visit will leave customers with unforgettable memories.

Your Host: Forrest Kelly is an experienced Radio/TV broadcaster who has interviewed some of Hollywood’s biggest celebrities, from Garth Brooks to Kevin Costner. A lover of wine who is fascinated by the science behind it.

Voted One of The Best Travel, Top 5 Minute, and Top Wine Podcasts.

Takeaways:

• Damon Raque discusses the significant challenges faced in finding the right space for BottleBank.com.
• The process of negotiating with landlords and ensuring a good economic deal can be exhausting.
• Understanding different liquor licenses and zoning requirements is crucial for establishing a wine business.
• Structural integrity of the floor was unexpectedly critical, requiring involvement from engineers.
• The journey of starting a business involves navigating countless obstacles and adapting creatively.
• The excitement of creating experiences for customers is at the heart of BottleBank's mission.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• BottleBank.com

Links referenced in this episode:

• BottleBank.com

Welcome. Welcome to the Best 5 Minute Wine Podcast with Forrest Kelly. We wrap up our conversation with Damon Raque of BottleBank.com and I was shocked.

At how difficult it was.

Best 5 Minute Wine Podcast.

Last question. So doing this whole thing from when you started up until current, as we talk now, an obstacle.

Has there been some obstacles where it was like, okay, this could go either way. I don't know if I've overcome this.

Countless.

Oh yeah, countless.

Obstac. The first one that was challenging was finding the right location.

I was shocked at how difficult it was to find the right location, not only geographically, but the size of the space, the accessibility of the space, the ingress, the egress, the size, the shape, the ceiling height, all of those factors came into play.

And identifying a space to begin with, then the process of working with the landlord and negotiating a deal that economically made sense was a lot of work. We went through that process four or five times before we found the space that we're currently in.

And then once you have the space, that space has to be tailored specifically around the rules and regulations around what we're trying to do.

So as an example, storing wine versus purchasing wine versus consuming wine, all of those are different businesses and different licenses in terms of a liquor license. And really kind of controls what you can do operationally and how you can do it. So figuring that out in addition to the zoning is a big process.

And then the latest thing that we've dealt with, Forrest, is when you think about a thousand individual wine vaults in a 3,000 square foot wine vault, the number of bottles times the average weight of a bottle, you're talking about literally tens of thousands of pounds. So it dawned on us, we probably, since we're not on a slab, we need to look at the structural integrity of the floor.

So then we had to get structural engineers involved. They had to come out a site visit, had to do all the engineering calculations to see, you know, if the floor was strong enough. Turns out it wasn't.

So that modified the design. And then you look at different ways to reinforce the floor.

And you know, there's steel beams, there's columns, and now they have this carbon fiber wrap. It's literally like wallpaper that they plaster on the floor that's made of carbon fiber and they layer it up to bolster the strength of the floor.

So things you never in a million years thought you would be dealing with that just kind of come up out of necess. So it's been a long, interesting journey, for sure.

Oh, that wallpaper, carbon Fiber wrap. They don't give that away, do they?

Yeah, unfortunately they don't. Unfortunately they don't. And you know, we're still waiting on pricing for that. So I'll have to, I'll have to send you a message to let you know.

So we'll, we'll see if that's a feasible option or not.

I think when I go to Home Depot today to pick up a light bulb, I think I'll ask the guy, what, what aisle is the carbon fiber wrap section? What aisle is that in?

That's right. It's been a process. So everyone said, hey, this is such a great concept, you know, should scale this thing and 15 of them in all the major cities.

And I'm going, man, I can't even imagine because again, every, every municipality is different.

So the, you know, the liquor laws in Georgia are different than Texas, different than California, and the zoning requirements in Los Angeles are different than they are in Newport Beach. And you know, all of that factors into the business.

So all that needs to be researched and understood and it's attorneys and specialists and all that stuff. We haven't even began to build out the space.

So, you know, I know dealing with contractors and subcontractors and there's going to be things going to come up in the, in the build out process that we're unaware of at this point. But you know, that's what makes it fun.

You, you pivot and that uncertainty kind of breeds inspiration, it breeds creativity, it breeds collaboration and that's part of the process. So we'll, we'll get there.

What's your full time job besides this?

This, this is my full time job. Yeah. Yeah. I again left a career in sales and consulting about four years ago and decided to focus on Bottle bank exclusively.

So you got a list of every, all activities you got to do for the day, correct. To make Bottle happen? Looking forward to it.

Next time I'm in Atlanta, I'll definitely stop by and say hi and check out the facilities and by then you'll probably have your grand opening.

Absolutely. Look forward to hosting you.

Okay, let's give me a, give me a 10 second pitch on why people should check it out. If they're in, say they're listening in Atlanta and you're open.

Bottle bank is going to give people the opportunity to create experiences.

They're going to walk into Bottle bank, they're going to have a great time and they're going to walk out and they're going to say, you know what, there's never been a bad night in that place.

There we go. Never been a bad night. That's how you go out. Drop the mic, ladies and gentlemen. Oh, yeah. Great way to impress your friends. Cool. Thank you very much.

It's been a pleasure.

Now, Forrest, thank you, man. It's been a pleasure on this end as well. Really, really appreciate your time and interest. Thank you so, so much.

You're welcome. From Sauvignon to Melody, we look for adventure at wineries around the globe. The best Made It Live podcast, please like and follow.