The Urban Art Bar Uses ShopKeep To Expand To Fully Functional Bar & Studio
“When we first opened and were applying for our liquor license, we used Square register to take payments. Shortly after we became a fully operational bar, we decided to switch to ShopKeep to better track our inventory of drinks, and our sales. We now have data on our sales mix of beer, wine, liquor, and food.”
– Frank Knippenberg, Co-Owner, The Urban Art Bar, Boston, MA
About The Urban Art Bar
The Urban Art Bar is a one-of-a-kind painting and sip studio that combines art in various forms, with music, mixology, and a full-scale bar. Located in the blossoming South Boston neighborhood better known as “Southie”, it has become a popular venue for individuals and groups alike to experience various elements of art while socializing over delicious cocktails, beer, wine, and food. Southie has garnered much press and has even served as the backdrop for several Hollywood blockbusters including Good Will Hunting and The Departed. The Art Bar offers nightly guided painting lessons led by top local artists and aficionados. Each night is led by a different artist, creating a unique and engaging experience. Owners Frank and Heather first opened the bar in 2012 in a smaller, more quaint location. Today the venue sits in the heart of the business district in South Boston. Shortly after launching and becoming a full-service bar, Frank decided that it was time to employ a complete point of sale system to better track their inventory, sales, and understand the business holistically.
Seamlessly integrate QuickBooks® and all the services you find most important
ShopKeep is designed to be simple enough for the business owner that just needs to take payments, but flexible enough to integrate the services that you find most important to your business.
“I really like the QuickBooks® integration with Retail Intel. Before adding it, I was manually inputting sales records every day for the previous night’s business and it was a lot of work, especially if you fell behind a few days. The time that ShopKeep has saved me on that is invaluable to me. We also just added LevelUp to help with our marketing efforts, as there are a high number of users within a half mile of our studio, and we’ll be integrating gift cards as well. I love the flexibility that ShopKeep provides.”
Ongoing system improvements that you can count on
Most POS companies charge extra fees for software updates, which rarely include feature enhancements. ShopKeep collects feedback from our customers and releases key features at a consistent cadence.
“We’ve been with ShopKeep for about 2 years now, and have seen so many updates and improvements in that short time. The most useful for us thus far has been the open tabs solution – that feature has offered huge value for us as we’ve developed our full bar service to complement the paint studio. With the ability to keep a tab open, people drink more, especially given that they will be painting at the space for a while.”
