By Matthew Halverson
Photographs by Katherine Bish
Remember that slightly inebriated conversation you had in college about opening your own bar? You know, that drunken discussion that you ditched the next morning when you woke up and realized that you didn’t have the money or the guts to see it through, much less dream up a drink menu. Corey Lawson and seven of his closest friends had it, too—but they’re actually acting on it. The go-getting group of twentysomethings will open rBar later this month.
After dropping $70 and his cell phone at a popular local club (he won’t say which one), Lawson had a late-night revelation: He’d leverage his life’s savings on the 20-percent–success–rate bar business— and recruit his friends to take the leap with him. He quit his advertising job at Schupp, drew up a business plan, leased a burned-out building from real-estate mogul Pete Rothschild and rBar was born. “I told them, ‘Be prepared to never get your money back, but if you want to do it, let’s do it all the way,’” Lawson says. “We’re all committed.”
With an address in the Grove and a Washington Ave.–meets–Soulard vibe, the bar has the potential to attract an interesting cross-section of the city’s nightcrawlers—one that the group hopes to build with its diverse circles of friends. “But the bottom line is that if the bar isn’t run well and it sucks,” says one of the partners, Steve Moss, “whether they’re our friends or not, they’re probably not going to come back.”
Behind the Bar
Corey Lawson “The 60 percenter,” as he’s known to his partners, Lawson put up the bulk of the capital and is anything but a silent partner. He’ll spend his nights and days at the bar and what little free time he has dreaming of the bar leading to future entrepreneurial endeavors. Drink of choice: Miller Light
Kyle Wort After three years of pouring shots—and calling them—behind the bar at campus hangouts, including Humphrey’s, Wort will work full-time, managing the behind-the-scenes duties (ordering, scheduling, slapping hands away from the tip jar) when he isn’t mixing cocktails. Six degrees of Corey: Met Lawson in middle school; played baseball with him at Saint Louis University Drink of choice: Jack and Coke
Leigh-Anne Reibold Call her the matron of spin: Not only will Riebold oversee the information flow as the bar’s full-time marketing coordinator and events planner, she’ll also take to the turntables at least once a week. She joins Lawson and Wort in the three-person management team. Six degrees of Corey: College (and current) roommate of Kerri Higgins, who dated a baseball player and introduced Riebold to Lawson Drink of choice: dirty martini
Chris Sloan A former college hoops star and assistant coach at SLU, Sloan will trade layups for Long Island Iced Teas as a part-time bartender at rBar. Lawson’s entrepreneurial bug may be spreading: Sloan is enrolling in SLU’s MBA program this fall. Hostile takeover in the making? Six degrees of Corey: Graduated from Francis Howell North with Wort, who played baseball with Lawson at SLU Drink of choice: Bud Select
Jud Gregory Professional staffing recruiter by day, amateur rock god by night, Gregory won’t be an employee of the bar, but he will take a break from his cover band, Glorious Blue, Wednesday nights to play a solo acoustic set at the bar. He’ll do a little freelance recruiting as well, drafting his “groupies” to drink there. Six degrees of Corey: Grew up with Lawson in Imperial; one of only two in the group who didn’t go to SLU Drink of choice: Pabst Blue Ribbon
Kerri Higgins Higgins has no plans to give up her sales job at A.G. Edwards, but she will parlay it into an opportunity to sell her coworkers on the bar’s happy-hour potential. She’ll probably sing the menu’s praises, too—she helped build it. Six degrees of Corey: Dated a baseball player at SLU, through whom she met Lawson and Wort Drink of choice: vodka and tonic
Steve Moss Like a business consultant sans hourly fees or stale corporate jargon, Moss has pitched in here and there, securing the bar’s insurance and brokering a soda deal with a Coca-Cola regional sales manager ... who happens to be his brother. Six degrees of Corey: Best friends with Lawson since age 5, despite not attending SLU Drink of choice: Bacardi and Coke
Kurt Struckhoff The youngest of the entrepreneurial octet and a first-year law-school student, Struckhoff will shepherd SLU students to the bar after class, after finals, after breakfast ... His finance degree will make him Lawson’s go-to backup bookkeeper. Six degrees of Corey: Played ball with Lawson and Wort Drink of choice: Maker’s Mark on the rocks
4054 Chouteau, 314-480-2415, www.rbarstl.com
