Community News
Sips & Tips – Power couple curates the ultimate lounge experience
BY SIMONE J. SMITH
Sophisticated!
Casual!
Convivial!
I have started to identify myself as a working nomad and claiming this title has opened me up to the world of travel. On my latest trip to Antigua & Barbuda, I was invited to visit an upscale cigar lounge, and the experience left me wanting more. Any cigar enthusiast has their favourite cigar lounge, whether it’s a luxury bar in a foreign city you’ve visited or the club down the street where you meet friends.
The owners of Sips & Tips have designed a wine and cigar lounge that offers nomads like me a space they want to work in. Whether it is a presentation, catching up with clients, or just relaxing and enjoying a drink, Faith and Girvan Pigott have curated the ultimate lounge experience. It offers the intimate and homey atmosphere that guests have grown to love, and it is why Sips & Tips has become the newest hot spot in Antigua.
What I found most incredible about Faith and Girvan is that they embody everything that defines a “Power Couple.” In my short time with them, I saw how they support and rally around each other’s pursuits and endeavours. Most couples do support each other, but not every couple rallies and helps to empower their partner to find their individual success. They have worked together to truly understand how their customers will react to distinctive product characteristics, costs and promotions, which is what has given them an extraordinary advantage over their rivals.
This dynamic duo are the owners of two other businesses outside Sips & Tips, which I will get back to in a moment:
Also located in Antigua, Quay Necessities rivals larger, corporate stores, even those that deal exclusively online. They have mastered the art of anticipating their customers and have designed their store to be organized and have a welcoming vibe. This means staying up to date with what is fresh and new on the market and putting serious effort into making sure that they have the merchandise that their customers need. Customers know that when they visit Quay Necessities, they are going to find exactly what they need, and not have to go to multiple stores to do so.
In order to grab the attention of the customers and to contrast the typical environment of airport duty free stores, Faith and Girvan thrill their customers using visual merchandising and positioning the products as a method of storytelling. They carry premium spirits and tobacco, and this business spawned Sips & Tips.
Last week, Faith and Girvan took time out of their busy schedule to speak with me about their exciting venture.
“It was quite simple,” Girvan began. “We saw this complex being constructed, and we have two other businesses that are doing well, so we thought we could duplicate it. Joy (Faith’s pet name) is very ambitious. She saw the place and wanted to pursue the business.”
The partners knew that they needed to restructure their marketing strategies to develop a specific segment of customers.
“Once we started off,” Faith shared with me. “We took a look at the place and thought, a bar and lounge space would look great in there. We wanted to make it a place that people wanted to come to on a regular basis. We wanted to capture business minds, up and comers, and entrepreneurs. I am excited to say that everything we have planned has come to pass.”
I was curious about the reaction from their patrons.
“We haven’t had any negative comments, only constructive criticism,” Girvan tells me. “We appreciate the thoughts and ideas that they bring to us. It has only been seven weeks, so we are still in a space of learning and figuring things out.
We have a duty-free store in town. Spirits are very expensive and with taxes it is more. Wines are a little bit more reasonable. You won’t find people selling a variety of wines, so we decided to keep it high end, and unique; only featuring the more popular brands at Sips & Tips.
Wine is very diverse. The wine industry is evolving so fast around the world, and in Antigua. The demographics tastes are evolving. You find that people in the region are becoming more interested in it. The area that we are in (North), they have a keener taste for wine. The interesting thing is, what Sips & Tips has done is attract people who want to learn more about wine.”
“Not a lot of people have wine tasting,” Faith tells me, “The customers appreciate that they can come in and appreciate wine tasting. Suppliers love to work for us. The more I buy from them, the better it is for them, so when customers get to try the wine, and enjoy it, sales increase.”
“We wanted to bring Sips and Tips in line with Quay Spirits,” Garvin chimed in, “We have various suppliers that we do business with, and there are up and coming cigar connoisseurs. What we have done is provide a space for them to come and indulge.
Any business owner will tell you that the hardest thing about running a business is finding great help. Employees working in a store are the face of the business. If they look bored, or haven’t mastered their p’s and q’s, a business owner will lose customers. The satisfaction level of customers plays an important role, and no strategy can succeed if customer satisfaction is not the main aim of the organization.
“Help is always hard to find.” Faith tells me. “Customer service is so important. Sometimes people don’t see your vision, and don’t understand why things are being done. It is important that our employees learn the product. Customers want to know that who is serving them has experience. There are long hours put into training, and we miss out on family time. We have two daughters, and this can be challenging.”
Girvan agreed wholeheartedly with his wife “We want to leave our customers with a great experience. We want our customers to feel welcome, so we want people who know how to be professional. At the end of the day, it is about teamwork. It is a partnership. Having more than one business can be a challenge, and we are not in the business for failure.
We would like to get more customers visiting throughout the day, and we want our standard customer base maintained. They are comfortable coming back over and over again, and also referring our business to other people.”
It was inspiring speaking with Faith and Girvan. They spoke about each other’s accomplishments and goals with joy and pride that signalled to me a strong powerful union. They show why it is important for couples to be open about their goals, dreams, and aspirations in life and career, so they can work together towards their common goals.