Minibar Delivery: Two female entrepreneurs are changing the booze industry

Lindsey Andrews and Lara Crystal are two powerful female entrepreneurs who are disrupting the booze industry.

The women are the co-founders of Minibar Delivery, an alcohol delivery service and app. Both had experience in successful start-ups such as Rent-the-Runway and Wag.com, but neither had ever worked in the alcohol industry before. Their lack of experience, however, became an asset.  “We had no idea what was ahead of us,” Crystal explains. “So we could approach it with a completely fresh perspective and ask the question, ‘Why can’t we do it this way?’ instead of looking at the limitations.”

Their business is growing rapidly and is on-track with the burgeoning spirits industry. “The sprits sector had a banner year in 2017, driven by consumer confidence in the U.S. economy, product innovations that adult consumers want and a fascination with premiumization across categories,” according to Distilled Spirits Council President and CEO Kraig R. Naasz.

Lindsey and Lara wanted to make getting alcohol as easy as ordering food through an app like Seamless or GrubHub. In the process, Andrews explains, “Minibar Delivery has been helping to bring small businesses into the digital age … some of these mom- and-pop liquor stores we work with have grown their business anywhere between 5% to doubling their entire business.”

In fact, Ryan Robertson of Far West Liquor & Fine Wines in Austin, Texas, says: “Minibar has allowed us to compete with the big box stores and chains through providing a footprint that covers a MUCH bigger swath of the city than we'd be able to cover on our own. We love the concept of making things more convenient for our customers and honestly running the delivery part of the business is a lot of fun. Minibar has been a huge asset to our business and bottom line."

Minibar has also been changing how consumers get their wine through their Vineyard Select program. Andrews explains: “We had already built the program to connect consumers to their local liquor stores, so we expanded it to connect them to vineyards across the country.” Gary Landsman of Taste Wine Company in New York City says that “Working with Minibar Delivery has been great for Taste Wine Company. They are professional, their tech is top notch and the extra sales don’t hurt!"  

Watch the full interview above to learn more about Minibar Delivery and how Lindsey Andrews and Lara Crystal are disrupting the liquor industry.