POSITIONS: Co-owners
COMPANY: The Radio Bar
WHAT THEY DO: Operate a bar and an Internet radio station
REVENUE: Five figures per week
NEXT GOAL: Open a second location, in another city
When he was younger, freelance photographer—and frequent Business Report contributor—Brian Baiamonte fantasized about opening a bar with unusual features: a washateria, a bowling alley or even a radio station. But he hadn’t thought about the idea in years until one day, while standing across the street from the Radio Bar’s future Mid City location, a friend wished aloud that someone would open a bar or restaurant in the space. “I’ll do it,” Baiamonte said. Once he’d said it out loud, he felt compelled to make it happen. He’d noticed that guests in his home enjoy using a smartphone app to choose the soundtrack for hanging out (imagine a virtual jukebox with a much wider selection) and thought the same concept would work in a bar. Every song played could simultaneously be streamed online, allowing patrons to play DJ and control the ambience inside while promoting the bar to the outside world. He brought the concept of a “radio bar” to his friend Dave Remmetter, owner of Chelsea’s Café and co-owner of Cuban Liquor, who liked the idea but was hesitant about getting involved until he saw the spot on Government Street and realized it could work.
Remmetter thought the location, across from Westmoreland Shopping Center, could support a neighborhood bar. But the property would need to be rezoned. He and Baiamonte spent hours knocking on doors, gauging whether nearby residents would back the zoning change and patronize the bar once it opened. Remmetter says several hundred people signed a petition of support, and perhaps 50 people showed up at a rezoning meeting where no one from the public spoke against the project. Beyond the political benefit, the outreach effort got the neighbors involved early on, creating a feeling that this was their bar, too.
Early marketing has been entirely through word of mouth. Baiamonte and Remmetter are known in Baton Rouge, and people, including local media, have been curious about what they’re up to. The Internet radio station doesn’t make money, but it’s a unique feature that attracts attention. They didn’t even put up a sign until more than a month after the bar opened, on Oct. 4. Remmetter says the newness, which may be driving much of the early success, will wear off eventually, but he expects the local neighborhoods will sustain the bar over the long term. The partners plan to open more locations in other cities, where they know enough people who might support the concept, and at least a few people they trust to help run the operation.
“We really try to let other people talk about us rather than talk about ourselves. [Word of mouth] lets us build a base of our peers and friends, and their peers and their friends, before we expose ourselves to the general population. So we already have people that feel like this is their home and their place when they come in, and they kind of help mold what kind of place it’s going to be.”
