Shovelhead’s, The Ultimate Biker Bar

Shovelheads will be the ultimate biker bar. The name “Shovelhead” comes from a type of Harley-Davidson motor on a motorcycle. The shovelhead motor was made between the years 1966 to 1983. It is called a shovelhead because the rocker box (or the heads) looks like the top of a shovel, hints shovelhead. The name of my bar alone will help differentiate my bar from other bars and it will let my demographic group, more specific bikers, know what kind of bar it is just by seeing the name. Shovelheads will be located in Birmingham, Alabama around the 5-Points area. I chose this location because it’s a centralized location for a lot of biker. This is a heavily populated area with a lot of traffic, so a high quantity of people will be passing by and hopefully they will see us and come in for a drink. I just hate people driving and especially riding a motorcycle after they have been drinking. I want to limit the amount of riding for bikers. Hopefully I will be able to accomplish this for a large number of bikers who live in the suburbs surrounding the Birmingham area. After a while at the Birmingham location if Shovelhead’s is doing well, I would like to open one more out in the country around Columbiana. This will be in a more rural area, which will let the bikers be able to get rowdy and loud without bothering anyone around them. But that will come later. Now that I have told you where Shovelhead’s will be located, let’s see what Shovelhead’s will look like. The color scheme for Shovelheads will be a Kelly Green and Midnight Black. All the walls will be painted in Midnight Black. Black is a popular color among bikers. On the back wall behind the bar their will be a neon sign with big green letters that spell out Shovelheads. The bar top will have green and black tiles that will alternate in color. The stools will be green and the top will be a motorcycle seat. On the left wall as you walk in the front door there will be a collogue of mirrors in the shape of circles. There will also be long, rectangular mirrors on the back wall under the Shovelheads sign. This will make the bar seem bigger by using the technique of “trimp flio”, which means “fool of the eye”. There will be high top tables throughout the bar but the main action will be happening at the bar top. This is where the bartenders will be doing there dances and flaring. To the right as you walk in will be the restrooms and an exit door. Out the exit door will be additional bike parking when the front parking is full. On the right wall I want graffiti style art painted on the wall to give the bar a more rough look, while still looking professional. It will also make the wall standout, so it’s not just a black wall. Now that I have explained what Shovelheads will look like, let’s move on to what Shovelheads has to offer its customers. Shovelheads will offer both domestic and imported beers, as well as malt beverages and a mile long list of mixed drinks. The domestic beers include: Budweiser, Bud Light, Budweiser Select, Miller Genuine Draft, Miller High Life, Miller Lite, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Michelob, Michelob Ultra, Michelob Light, Michelob Amber, Michelob Lager, Coors and Coors Light. The imported beers include: Heineken, Heineken Light, Killians, Amberbock, Yuengling, Rolling Rock, Corona, and Corona Light. The malt beverages include: Smirnoff Ice, Smirnoff Grape, Smirnoff Orange, Smirnoff Watermelon, Smirnoff Black Cherry, and Smirnoff Sour Apple. The mixed drinks include: Absolute Stress, Alabama Slammer, Blue Hawaiian, B-52, Bay Breeze, Beam Me Up, Black Monk, Black Cherry, Black Russian, Bloody Mary, Blow Job, Blue Margarita, Cape Cod, Caribbean Cruise, Chicago Cooler, Dirty Martini, Fuzzy Navel, Fuzzy Leprechaun, Grateful Dead, Hurricane, Hairy Navel, Kamikaze, Long Island Tea, Mai Tai, Margarita, Manhattan, Martini, Naked Lady, Orgasm, Purple Hooter, Red Headed Slut, Rum Runner, Rattle Snake, Sex on the Beach, Shovelhead Tea, Singapore Sling, Sea breeze, Screaming Blue, Salty Dog, Screwdriver, Slippery Nipple, Sloe Gin Fizz, Tequila Sunrise, Whiskey Sour, White Russian and Zombie. There will be no food menu available, only alcoholic drinks will be served. There will be pretzels available on the bar top. By providing salty foods, this will make people thirsty so they will buy more drinks. There will be drink specials offered everyday for different drinks. Happy Hour will be between the hours of 3 to 7 o’clock. During these hours we will have two dollar domestic beer, three dollar well drinks, four dollar shots (their will be a limit to how many a customer may purchase), and five dollar body shots. Other drinks will be available at regular price. On special nights we will be doing promotions with a variety of liquor representatives when we are promoting a new liquor we will be carrying. On promotion nights we will have a band and tons of different drink specials. Usually the liquor representatives have girls dressed in outfits representing the liquor being advertised, walking around selling shots and giving away T-shirts and other memorable items. Other events will occur throughout the year after opening. Now that I have explained what Shovelheads will offer, lets move on to how I plan to market and advertise Shovelheads. For the past six months I have experienced the biker lifestyle. This includes going to bike rallies, hangout at biker bars, and getting to talk first hand with a variety of different bikers. From this experience I have concluded that bikers have their own network of spreading news and gossip through word-of-mouth. So I decided the best form of marketing to use would be guerilla marketing. Guerilla marketing is proactive efforts to spread positive word-of-mouth information and to encourage product usage. I will be able to spread the word about opening Shovelheads to a few bikers I know personally and within a few weeks the word will be spread. I also plan to take out an ad in the Thunder Roads Magazine. Thunder Roads is a biker magazine that is distributed in the state of Alabama and Flordia. It is filled with ad’s and articles about bike rallies and other events that occur each month. Every month a new issues comes out. A full page ad cost $1000 and a half page ad cost $500. For the first few months I will run a full page ad, then I will change to a half page ad. The editiors and publishers are David Santos and Tammy Santos. It is a popular magazine for many bikers in Alabama and Florida. I also plan to have flyers made and put in different bike shops in the surrounding areas. I feel positive that my efforts of marketing and spreading the word will attract a good number of bikers and it will continue to grow. In conclusion, I have informed you of how the name “Shovelheads” came about, where Shovelheads will be located, the color scheme and what it will look like, what will be offered including beer and other alcoholic beverages, the specials that will be offered, and how I plan to market and advertise Shovelheads. With this I hope to build a storng business as well as create the ultimate biker bar, Shovelheads Bar.