Conversations
Rick Erwin and Bill West, TopCellar
Imagine you're a customer and the next time you order a drink at your favorite establishment, you can not only browse the wine list, but also learn about this season's harvests, select a bottle and read up on its industry ratings, and even view images of the vineyard where the grapes were grown. All that, plus receive pairing recommendations and share the experience with your Facebook friends. It's a uniquely interactive, educational and elevated dining experience that puts some panache into your usual happy hour or business lunch.
A couple of years ago, award-winning Greenville, SC restaurateur, Rick Erwin, took a trip to the National Restaurant Assocation (NRA) in search of some cool new ideas for his local restaurants. On his list was to look into an app for the iPad that would help his customers make informed decisions about the wines that they might choose with their dinner. Frustrated that he could not find an existing app that met his needs, he did what entrepreneurs often do - he set out to develop his own app.
This past January he started introducing a test version of the app in his restaurants, and customers loved it. Wine, beer and cocktail sales in his restaurants increased so he decided to continue on with the project.
The result is TopCellar, a public, iPad-based app that will be available on iTunes this November – timed to capitalize on the holiday season, the most critical time of year for food and beverage managers to generate revenue. It's a cool solution for generating higher revenue within bars, restaurants, and hotels. The One of the things that makes TopCellar unique is that it has been created by a seasoned restaurateur for restaurateurs.
