Cheers to 10 years of Hains & Co
Hains & Co put Gilbert Place on the map 10 years ago, so CityMag chats with the team to talk all things hospitality and how they continue to thrive as a bar a decade since opening.
Marcus Motteram says when deciding to open bar Hains & Co 10 years ago, the introduction of the Small venue liquor license sealed the deal for him and his partner Marissa Galatis-Motteram.
“Marcus used to run bars and clubs in Melbourne for 10 years, had a nightclub, had a cafe, had a couple of bars, had another bar,” Marissa says.
“And after three children, my mother-in-law said ‘I think you need to come back to Adelaide. We need to see the grandkids’.
“It was also a time when we had a small bar license being released in Adelaide. It was also just a great place to come back to with a young family,” Marcus says.
“Because before the small bar license, I don’t think we would’ve come back. That was great that they changed that,” Marissa replies.
Before the introduction of the Small venue liquor license in 2013, Marissa says “the only way you could serve alcohol was if you were a hotel, a restaurant or a pub”.
“I think Adelaide saw the success that Melbourne had with its small bar licenses, creating the activation in the city,” she says.
“[Adelaide wasn’t] just a little bit slow. We were really slow,” Marcus says.
“It’s a different type of entertainment. I think that the Adelaide pubs had it easy for a long time. They’d made a lot of money with pokies and things like that, but they could just rest on their laurels because they weren’t under any competition duress, aside from other pubs, which is a fairly simple offering.
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“But when bars came along, we’re able to build these beautiful spaces. It’s a little bit of escapism, like back in the old days of the gin palaces and the likes, where people came to these opulent and beautiful spaces to escape their lives and have a different experience.
“That’s what little bars bring and they’re more intimate. The quality of drinks are so much better. Their quality offering is absolutely fantastic. And the idea is that you don’t need to just go to one. You can walk around – there’s multiple – and have a night where you just go to little bars and have a drink and really enjoy the space.”
Hains & Co on the first day of trade. This picture: supplied.
But over 10 years ago, Marcus was “walking all the laneways of Adelaide” looking for the perfect spot to open up a small bar in the CBD.
“I came across this building, and I really loved it,” he says. “It’s got such a European vibe outside, with Edmund Wright House across the way.”
“And it’s three laneways intersecting into one,” Marissa says. “And yet, you’re right in the middle of the CBD – you’ve got Hindley Street, King William, Currie – and yet there’s this little quiet oasis.”
Marissa says that Marcus “just made it happen”.
“But Marcus literally came home and he said ‘I knocked on the door of this really cute building, and I asked the owners what it would take for them to move out’,” Marissa laughs.
“I’m like ‘are you serious?!’ And who would have thought all these years later, he made it happen.”
The current Hains & Co bar. This picture: Jon Wah.
But from the moment Marcus signed the lease, he knew he wanted to open a “seafaring bar to honour [his] forefathers with a love of gin and rum”.
“But it was a gamble trying to open up. There was nothing here,” Marissa says.
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“Our first week of opening was really good…those first 10 months were just very consistent. We didn’t really grow until the second summer,” Marcus says.
“I’d walk around to the other places like Maybe Mae and see that they’re already busy and [think] ‘what am I doing wrong?’
“It was just us being consistent about what we did and just competing with ourselves to always improve what we did and keep giving beautiful hospitality. Our tagline is ‘lifting spirits’. I still feel that is what we’re about is giving people a great time, and by doing that consistently all the time, that’s allowed us to grow.”
But as Hains & Co began to grow – and eventually opened an exclusive whiskey bar titled Ralph Louis Frederick upstairs – one thing remained constant: their commitment to quality hospitality.
“My whole thing when I first came back to Adelaide is so many of these bars would be closed on Sundays and Mondays, but if people come to me on a Saturday night, well, shouldn’t I be open for them on a Sunday and Monday? I mean that to me is hospitality,” Marcus says.
“We were open on Sundays, and as soon as we could, we’d open on Mondays. We’re open from 4pm to 2am seven days a week, every day of the year, but Christmas Day – it’s the one day that we close a year.”
“It’s tempting to look at a Monday, that didn’t warrant opening, or on Sunday, it’s just too expensive,” Marissa says.
“But you’ve just got to look at it from a macro level rather than a micro level. You’ve got to look at the whole week: what are your staffing costs for the whole week? Did it all wash through? And the benefit is we’re being consistently open for Adelaide.
“It’s part of our brand. If we look at last night on a micro level in terms of our staff costs, staff costs would have been close to 50 per cent,” Marcus says.
“But my staff get to earn good money on those nights, which is fantastic for them. I’m a supporter of that, and again, it works out in the wash.”
“The minute you start looking at a micro level at everything, you can get lost in that,” Marissa says.
“You’ve just got to elevate yourself and look at the whole thing. If the whole thing doesn’t work out, then obviously, you need to adjust your hours. But consistency I think is important. People need to rely on that we’re going to be open for Adelaide.”
Marissa and Marcus treat their staff “like family” and reimburse grocery costs so a staff member can cook and host the Hains & Co weekly ‘family meal Friday’. This picture: supplied.
The Hain’s & Co team won’t compromise on consistency, and they also won’t “compromise on the quality of the drink”, meaning they are prepared to import the highest quality spirits to sell at Hains & Co. Its first pour spirits must be a 40 per cent alcohol measurement or more, despite it being more expensive as “you pay excise based on percentage of alcohol”.
“[Our prices are] not outrageous [compared] to other small bars, but then people still come and go ‘that’s expensive’. Well, it’s expensive to drink in Australia,” Marcus says.
Despite this, Marcus says people are still willing to “drink better quality”, which he believes they can find at Hains & Co.
Hains & Co are celebrating its 10th birthday with a Decade of Thanks laneway sailor party this Saturday from 5pm until late.
Reserve a free ticket through the website. Priority entry – along with the opportunity to receive a free daiquiri – is given to those with a registered ticket if Hains & Co reach capacity.
Hains & Co is located at 23 Gilbert Place, Adelaide. Connect with the business on Instagram for more.