Retro cocktails, pop-up bars with themed cocktail creations, tasting events and consumers seeking “Instagram-able” ideas are helping to drive foot traffic to the relatively flat on-premise channel. While more consumers are drinking at home rather than “out on the town” at nightclubs, bars and restaurants, the cocktail craze and a wider variety of spirits and craft beers from which to choose fueled $26.7 billion in alcohol sales from 2013-2018, growing at an annualized rate of 2.9 percent during the past five years, states Los Angeles-based IBISWorld’s December 2018 “Bars & Nightclubs in the US” report.
Bar and nightclub operators have responded to changing preferences and increased competition by diversifying into new and niche concepts such as wine bars, cocktail lounges and brewpubs to attract new demographics, the report states.