1953,” said Nikki. Subtle shouts outs to McLain’s favorite British football club can be spotted throughout the facility. “I’m a big Arsenal supporter so the bar back says Gillespie Road, which is the tube stop in London which is now called Arsenal station,” said McLain. A fun fact about Arsenal (Andy’s team) is they won the league championship in 1953 so just another reason to incorporate it into the brand.
The distillery has two full time employees and 12 part time employees. “We believe that we’ve created a very dynamic and exciting environment in which to work. It’s a beautiful space. Andy put a lot of thought and effort into designing it and making it look exactly how we wanted it to,” said Nikki. “We believe that we’re also hip and trendy. We understand that the younger demographic seeks out locations and venues like ours and we know that our brand connects well with these customers looking for a unique experience,” said Nikki. She goes on to say, “Andy and I are both working parents. We have a six-year-old and a two-year-old and we know there are other families like us out there who still want to go out and have fun, so we wanted a family friendly brand.” The distillery offers a table with coloring books and table games for kids, along with the other sporty elements such as pub skittles, a British pub bowling game, and badminton. The distillery is a destination for more than just gin. Designed to be an event venue as well as a dis- tillery, three separate meeting spaces offer options for groups and functions. A 2900 square foot barrel room is available for up to 350 attendees. A gaming area offers darts and three pub skittles lanes, while the crown room is a more intimate area for groups of up to 50, depending on seating configuration. “We can host lifestyle celebrations, birthday parties, retirement parties, weddings, rehearsal dinners, groom’s dinners. My background tends to be more corporate, so we also host businesses that do happy hours and team building activities here,” said Nikki.
“It was kind of a no brainer for us to go the British route”
“We believe that we’ve created a very dynamic and exciting environment in which to work.”
After studying the Minneapolis real estate market and carefully planning the space, the McLains and Everhart opted to go with a large 15,000 square foot distillery and event space, the largest currently in the Twin Cities. Royal Foundry offi - cially opened in December of 2018 with a grand opening in March of 2019. The British themed distillery is unique for the Minnesota scene. “It was kind of a no brainer for us to go the British route, because in Minnesota everything else is very Nordic. When we wrote our business plan, there were over 150 breweries and only 13 distilleries, and only seven of those with a cocktail room. We were up and coming in this very emerging trend. Andy actually sketched the logo out on a napkin. The crown represented the tie-in to the royal family in England. People ask us about 53 underneath. There are 53 gallons in a barrel of whiskey. It’s also the year that the Queen was coronated and the year of the British expe- dition to Mt. Everest– both of which happened in
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JUNE 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020
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