Brisbane-based gourmet hot dog brand 5 Dogs has opened a new store within popular live music venue, Crowbar.
It is designed to make pub and club owners’ lives easier by eliminating the need for them to supply food.
“In Queensland there is a certain type of liquor license where pubs and clubs have to serve food,” says founder Rob Hueston.
“Some abide by the rules, for example, they might have some sushi in a cold bain-marie that never gets sold, and then there are clubs that just don’t want the extra responsibility. We take that away from them by supplying the food.”
Hueston describes the store as “an in a club or pub concept,” because it is specifically designed to operate inside an existing venue, whether it be located in Brisbane or any other location across Australia.
He says the partnership is proving mutually beneficial because both Crowbar and 5 Dogs appeal to a similar demographic.
“Crowbar chose to go with us because we deal with every type of customer that they deal with – from your hard core vegan’s right through to your meat loving individuals, so it works well for us and it works well for them.”
The store is open whenever Crowbar is, which ensures patrons have access to food around the clock. “The advantage for a club or a pub is that it [the store] keeps people there, and it pleases liquor licensing because there is food being served on the premises.”
THE CONCEPT, THE FOOD
The outlets themselves are quite small, around 10 square metres, and they don’t serve 5 Dogs’ entire menu. “They offer the beef’ n gravy and chicken n’ gravy rolls, and then you’ve got the traditional NYC hot dog and a New York City vegan,” Hueston says.
“We don’t offer any of our premium sausages and we don’t offer any chips or nachos or anything like that as this stage.”
Unlike 5 Dog’s Fortitude Valley store, these smaller outlets only require one person to operate. “They are never going to be somewhere like the Fortitude Valley store where you need five staff on a Saturday night and still can’t keep up,” Hueston says.
He adds the stores are incredibly easy to run, and operators don’t need to have any prior experience in cooking or hospitality.
“All the food is pre-cooked and pre-packaged to ensure it falls under the liquor laws – Queensland has a pre-prepared food license that is attached to the liquor license.
“It is heat and go, there is no grill – as long as they can make gravy and push a button on a microwave they are good to go.”
FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES
While this is 5 Dogs’ first store within a venue, Hueston plans to franchise the concept. “We see it as an opportunity for franchisees to expand an existing business, or it’s an opportunity for someone who is quite young.
“They might not have a huge amount of money yet want to run their own business,” he explains.
Despite being open only two weeks, the store is performing much better than the venue’s previous food supplier.
“They used to have a hot dog stand in there but it was just a guy selling your basic hot dogs out of a push cart.
“Because we look after everybodys food preferences our sales are four times what his were,” Hueston adds.