Plot twist in battle over booze as 'Luxe' bus rolls through town

BEREA — When City Council banned alcohol sales on any City-run property during their November 19 regular meeting, Charlie Hamilton, proprietor of Dreaming Creek Brewery in Richmond, got the message he isn’t welcome here by government officials.

“I have no desire to go to a city where they don't want alcohol. It will just be a continual issue, where they will target people for [selling it],” Hamilton told The Edge. “That’s not okay.”

Hamilton operates a beer truck that was featured at last year’s Levitt AMP concert series in the City-operated Skate Park. Although he said that beer sales from the concerts were negligible, Hamilton appreciated the opportunity to advertise his brewery and build name recognition.

He called those on Council who supported the ban '“sore losers who pushed through what they could before they lost their majority.”

Hamilton was referring in part to incumbent Jim Davis, who lost his seat in the recent election. Little was one of five on Council who supported the ban. David Rowlette, who also lost his seat, was not present to vote on the ban. Incoming Councilmembers are Steve Davis and John Payne.

Hamilton said the Councilmembers who voted for the ban — despite alcohol sales being legal after two-thirds of Madison County voters approved its sale county-wide in May 2023 — are naive to think their move meant people won’t drink at the concerts.

“You think the people rolling in there with coolers aren’t drinking?” Hamilton asked. “The ordinance was just a hit on people we know,” Hamilton said, referencing Ali Blair and Erica Chambers, who founded the concert series in town, and who are the primary business in town impacted by the ban.

The ‘Luxe bus’ pulls through Berea

Meanwhile, as the new ordinance chases Hamilton back to Richmond, other establishments in town are banding together to boost sales of alcohol and Berea’s reputation for nightlife.

Their method is a privately owned and operated free luxury bus that can transport up to 12 people at a time while running a loop through town, stopping at bars, eateries, and other entertainment venues that operate after 5PM.

The Luxe Amp’d Up Run, as the bus route is known, is the brain child of Cameron Franklin, proprietor of Great Spirits on Richmond Rd. Franklin is also the owner of the Berea-based Luxe Agency, a marketing and promotions company he recently founded to promote entertainment and tourism in Berea, a way to fill the gap in Council’s lack of interest in promoting fun after 5:00 in the evening, either to locals or out-of-towners.

“The demographic is changing in Berea. We have younger people moving into town” Franklin told The Edge. “People are dying for something to do after 5pm … and our community can’t survive on just its citizens alone. We have to have tourism to help us grow.”

Local business owners like himself see the potential, and want to capitalize on it, but Council doesn't, according to Franklin. “We’re not seeing any initiative from the City,” he said.

‘First Friday’ redux

Every first Friday of the month, beginning at 6PM, the cherry red Luxe bus begins its route, leaving from Great Spirits where the parking lot has been expanded to accommodate the anticipated increase in business. It then pulls through town, stopping at Honeysuckle Bourbon House at Churchill’s, the Town Square for visits to Boon Tavern, PapaLeno’s, and the Berea College Campus, then rolls on to Night Jar, Rebel Rebel, and Apollo’s Pizza before starting the loop again, running continuously until 11PM.

The exact times for the stops, and whether there will eventually be an on-demand service run through a Luxe app is still being sorted out, as is whether more nights will be added, according to Franklin. “We’re still experimenting, trying to learn what works best for our customers,” he said.

At least two aspects of Luxe’s bar crawl activities feature familiar themes: it operates on the First Friday of every month, and it suggests getting AMP’d’ up. First Friday summer concerts have been held in the Skate Park for the past decade, and are sponsored by Levitt AMP.

“That was on purpose,” Franklin told The Edge. “When you’re amped up, you want to go do something. But we chose First Friday because of the Levitt AMP concert, because we have the opportunity to include the park in our run. People will be able to go downtown, hop on or off and go to the park and see the concert, then go get something to eat. It will help drive traffic to the concerts and to other businesses.”

The originators of the First Friday Levitt AMP concerts in Berea are Rebel Rebel co-owners, Ali Blair and Erica Chambers. Franklin said he had their permission to piggy- back on the brand recognition they’d built.

“They said they had no problem with bringing more attention to their series and to help get more people to go to them,” Franklin said.

“Luxe is literally a customer delivery service. Providing a safe and fun ride to our restaurants and nightlife encourages locals and trusts to get on board with what Berea has to offer,” Chambers told The Edge.

Bill West, owner of the Honeysuckle Bourbon House, also spoke with The Edge, “It’s great to have someone deliver a dozen customers at your door.” West is also Chairman of the Berea Tourism Board.

Franklin said Luxe is still experimenting with the optimal route, but hews to his vision of approximating in Berea what is available in other Kentucky cities with a strong arts vibe like Elizabethtown, Lexington and Louisville.

“It’s a mix of tourism, city, and business operations. You park in one place, and then you get on a trolley that takes you around where you maybe have a few drinks at different bars, a bite to eat somewhere, and then it takes you to galleries that are expecting you, so they have activities lined up,” Franklin said.

At present, no cultural stops are on the Luxe bus route, but Franklin said many activities will be added in time, branded with a Sasquatch named “Luxe”.

Sasquatch runs through town

“Sasquatch is iconic, and we have some really cool ideas that will be themed around Luxe the Sasquatch,” Cameron told The Edge. “They will be high caliber, high quality events that are well thought-out, well planned, and well executed,” he said.

Some events Franklin listed include bar or restaurant crawls, 5K runs, bike trail events, roasting marshmallows over a fire pit, or scavenger hunts for Sasquatch.

“All the outdoor things like food trucks, beer tastings, acoustic [music] that other cities have but that Berea is lacking is what we want to promote,” Franklin said.

The goal is to generate activity that will benefit all retail and food and beverage services in town, according to Franklin.

“Out town then generates tax revenues off of that,” he said. “People driving through stop at the gas stations, that generates tax revenue. They stop at the restaurants, that generates tax revenue. They stay at a hotel, they generate a tax revenue. But nobody is going to come here if there is nothing to do.”

Franklin also said that his liquor store alone generates tens of thousands of dollars in tax revenues for the city, but would not be specific about the number.

Franklin said that for now, Luxe’s emphasis is on alcohol-related activities because it is a “hot topic” but that as part of his plan to consistently market Berea to tourists, he will focus on event planning.

“I just know that I have a business in this town, and that things need to change for businesses like mine, and other restaurants that serve alcohol,” Franklin said.

West said that having a bespoke entertainment service in town could only help increase tourist dollars. “It’s concierge nightlife. It’s customized and safe so people are not drinking and driving.”

Ban bad for brewery business

The change Franklin sees for Berea’s entertainment scene has come too late for Hamilton’s Dreaming Creek. Thanks to the cold reception the brewer received from Berea’s City Council, he says he’s done with the town.

Hamilton told The Edge that prior to the ban, he had planned to operate from the former Poke Boat building in Old Town, but found that retrofitting the space for a brewery proved too expensive so he leased it out and began searching for a new Berea location. Following Council’s decision, however, Hamilton said, “We have no intentions of returning to Berea.”

Instead, Hamilton said he has decided to expand in Richmond where he said he is welcomed and supported by local officials to legally operate his business. “I have to put it that way because alcohol is legal in the county, if you understand what I mean,” he said.

Luxe’s inaugural run was November 22 — Not a first Friday, but a Friday nonetheless. It’s next bar crawl is scheduled for Friday, December 6. If you’re interested contact Great Spirits at 859-646-6119, or arrive there by 6PM on the night of the crawl.

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UPDATE: The Edge erroneously reported that Jerry Little lost his Council seat. It was Jim Davis. The edge regrets the error.