All good things.
And it was only going to get better.
He was the local celebrity to many and it was nice to know it was for something he was doing rather than being related to billionaire West Carlisle.
“They should be here by ten,” he said. “The place looks great.”
“I’ve walked around and inspected everything more than once,” Kyle said.
“I knew you would. I want to check on some email and then I’ll be doing the same. Give me five minutes and I’ll be on the floor.”
Kyle laughed. “You had Friday set up on purpose, didn’t you? Knowing how busy the place was going to be with customers.”
Elias grinned. “We are busy every day of the week, but Friday is the most. At ten, when we begin handing out orders, all our to-go slots will be full. It will be good for them to see that. A line of people for tours and beer inside.”
He wasn’t an idiot.
If he was going to promote his business, he wanted it seen at the best possible time.
West hadn’t been a fan of Elias’s business model, but he knew he could make this work.
Supply, demand—and his beer was so damn good that the demand was off the charts. And since you could only buy it off of him, people wanted it even more and were willing to drive hours for it.
Because some were driving a few hours for it, they were spending hundreds of dollars on one order and stocking up.
He had two food trucks here daily that got most of their business from his clients. One owner started the truck solely to just park in his lot.
Much better than opening a cafe to keep food in people while they were in the tasting room.
This was no liability to him at all. He didn’t make a profit and didn’t want to off of them, but they had to have an excellent reputation to be on his property.
“Fierce isn’t the only brewery that knows how to market to their clients,” he said.
“I’m still amazed at how well this place is doing,” Kyle said. “The previous owners never had a shot at doing it like you are.”
West was willing to build a brewery from the ground up. That had been their plan. But this place had been struggling and West gave them an offer they couldn’t refuse even when it wasn’t for sale yet.
Staff that wanted to stay were more than welcome, but they were going to operate his way and his way only.
Half stayed, the rest left.
He was fine with it.
In the past five years, the building had more than tripled in size and Elias still felt he was outgrowing it.
Which of course went back to him wanting to expand to other locations.
After this deal with Fierce, he’d have more backing to make that move.
“They weren’t me,” he said. “Didn’t have my vision nor my brewing ability.”
Kyle laughed. “Not cocky in the least, are you?”
“Nah,” he said, waving his hand. “Nothing like half my siblings.”
Kyle grinned. He rarely talked about his brothers. Least of all West. Though most were aware of who he was related to.
Or they found out at some point.