Each Thursday in August the folks at Downtown Dallas Inc. (DDI) are hosting pop-up happy hours at different parks in downtown. Last Thursday they met at Pegasus Plaza. The idea is to bring more exposure to downtown parks and, hopefully, business to surrounding restaurants and shops.
DDI reveals the location of each event on Facebook and Twitter pages 24-hours prior to the event. The bar is cash only.
Really, that was supposed to be it for this story. Go Dallas! Great idea, DDI! High five! Then, I noticed that Andrews Distributing is providing the beer.
Here's an interesting note: Andrews doesn't carry beer from any local brewers. That's weird, right? Why would they throw a party and not invite one of their very own? The specific beers they're carrying are Crispin Cider, Blue Moon, Guinness, Miller Lite, Coors Light and Shiner.
I spoke with Courtney Garrett at DDI and she explained that since they're a nonprofit, they need sponsorships to be able to pull off these events. And, Andrews made them a good deal. "It's as simple as that, honestly," said Garrett.
I asked Garrett if they contacted a local brewer, like Deep Ellum Brewing Company, just to explore the possibility and she wasn't sure.
John Reardon of DEBC said they weren't contacted. Asked if they would have been in a position to sponsor an event, "Absolutely," said Reardon. "We try to be involved in as many local events as possible. We want do stuff for the community that serves a mutual cause."
While DEBC obviously doesn't have the deep pockets of Andrews (a million DEBC pockets could fit in one of Andrews'), there could have been other advantages.
"Locals really pay attention to what we do," said Reardon. "And it's the exact crowd they're trying to attract to downtown."
In other words, it's been proven that DEBC, Peticolas, Lakewood and Franconia bring out crowds en mass for their events. They all have a very loyal local following. All of whom could have been a game-changer for the pop-up happy hours.
And now back to the originally scheduled closing paragraph:
DDI is a private, nonprofit organization that is funded with membership dues, program-specific contracts with the city of Dallas and assessment revenue from the 1992 Improvement District. The overarching goal of the group is to bring business, people, money to downtown. "Renaissance. Revitalization. Momentum."
Follow Downtown Dallas, Inc. on Facebook for the reveal of the location for the pop up party.
