Q: How's your search coming along?
A: We're on a beer budget, and Houston real estate has run up so high that it's very difficult for us to really be able to justify a lot of the prices. My first choice would be to find an existing building that we could move into that's in a good area.
But with our rapid growth, suddenly it's economic for us to potentially build. I'm still looking at one building north of downtown that would be a home run if it works.
It's an old building. It's functionally less than perfect, but location-wise it would be great.
If we can pull it off, it would be great, but I'm very concerned it could be a white elephant. No business wants a money pit.
Q: The company has grown a lot recently, but you don't really advertise. How have you gotten to where you are?
A: We've focused much more on grass-roots marketing where people come out to the brewery for a tour and we build a connection.
We've done events around town, and we donate to a lot to charities. I think every elementary school PTO in this city and almost every church has gotten donations from us. I think what we've created is a community. That organic growth is in and of itself satisfying, but the people are also very loyal consumers. They're not trendy.
It's almost like we've become part of their lives.
Q: Was it your goal to create, as you say, a community?
A: I don't think you can set out to create a kind of community like ours on purpose.
If you do that, it's going to always seem contrived. You can foster that community once it already exists by being aware of what expectations people have.
I try to do the things I enjoy doing, and then I try to see if I can rationalize a business purpose for them. We do the MS 150. We have a giant team. We have 300 riders, and we could easily have 1,000 riders if we kept it open.
We have a '57 Bentley we've tie-dyed for the art car community. I thought it was something that would be fun. The art car parade is such a part of Houston.
We did that not because we were looking at it as a way we could cash in on it, but more that we wanted to be part of it. And I've been very careful we don't try to commercialize it.
Q: Do you ever worry that a move might in some way alter the sense of community you've established?
A: Constantly. This is a big deal. This is who Saint Arnold's is. To our customers, it's their brewery, and that's something we have to be very mindful of.
There's a way to do it where you can make people part of the process, and they'll continue to feel ownership.
The biggest thing is keeping it in town and just making sure people feel invited to come there.
Q: It seems like the popularity of wine would cut into your business. Has it?
A: The editor of Food & Wine said beer is the new wine.
To me that sounds somehow weak — like we want to be the new wine. I think what is actually happening is that people are discovering this wide array of beers that are out there. I'd argue that there's a greater spectrum of flavor in beer than in wine. People are also discovering that beer goes great with food, and that you can pair beer with food often better than wine. Two weeks ago we did a beer and cheese tasting. It was an incredible event. A majority of the crowd was predominantly craft beer drinkers, but there were wine drinkers along with their beer-drinking friends. At the end, they were the ones who were the biggest proponents of how wonderful it was.
Dean Soars into Huge Lead in New Hampshire Now Leads Kerry 40-17 Among Likely Voters; Clark and Edwards in Distant 3rd --New Zogby Poll
Former Vermont Governor Dr. Howard Dean has opened a large lead over his closest challenger in New Hampshire according to the newest poll by Zogby International.
Dean earned 40%, compared to Massachusetts Senator John Kerry’s 17%. None of the other candidates have exceeded single digits in the polling. Retired General Wesley Clark and North Carolina Senator John Edwards are tied for third with 6% each.
...Pollster John Zogby: "This is stunning. Dean leads 43-20 among Democrats and 35 to 11 among Independents. He hits 40 among all age groups, union and non-union voters. His lead is 57-17 among self-described progressives, 50-20 among liberals, and 34-14 among moderates. Married voters give him a 38-13 edge and singles a 45-21 point lead. He holds huge leads among all education groups, among investors and non-investors, men and women. This qualifies as juggernaut status. Can he be stopped?"
Dean Regains Slight Iowa Lead in Neck and Neck Race With Gephardt, 26% - 22%; Kerry 3rd in Single Digits in Latest Zogby International Poll
With less than seven weeks remaining until Iowa’s January 19 caucus vote, Former Vermont Governor Dr. Howard Dean has re-taken a slight lead in his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination. In December 1- 2 polling of 500 likely Iowa caucus voters by Zogby International, Dean jumped back ahead of Missouri Congressman Richard Gephardt, the earlier Iowa front-runner, 26% - 22%, yet within the poll’s margin of statistical error.
Massachusetts Senator John Kerry was third with 9%, followed by North Carolina Senator John Edwards at 5%. Nearly three in ten (28%) remain undecided, providing some hope for the trailing candidates.
Thunderbird Lodge (from the front)
