Restaurants are still open for takeout but happy hour is canceled, indefinitely. That’s a big deal because restaurants earn about 60 percent of their revenues from happy hour. Bartenders, especially, are suffering right now: they only make money when people come in, pull up a chair and enjoy the vibes that happy hour normally provides. A Black woman with a unique business is stepping up to keep bartenders paid during this time with “Virtual Happy Hours,” online events where people experience all the vibes of happy hour with friends, while keeping great bartenders working.
“Happied” is a platform that connects people to the best happy hours, based on their preferences. Happied can connect users to happy hours at Black owned restaurants or find a happy hour perfect for a first date. Happied can point you to a happy hour with a chill vibe or one with amazing food specials. The platform also has a premium subscription that allows users to access happy hours until 9 pm! The Happied app currently has around 7,000 mobile users and has over 450 restaurants on the platform. The app drives revenue and traffic to restaurants and for bartenders, it’s like a digital billboard.
With restaurants shutdown, however, Happied is bringing the happy hour experience home with virtual happy hours. Virtual happy hours connect bartenders to audiences through livestreams. The events are hosted at restaurants with bartenders who, in real time, walk participants through mixing drinks at home (all ingredients are emailed out ahead of time to registrants). The livestreams connect people, allowing them to safely interact and even play games with each other, in this time of “social distancing.” Virtual happy hours are a great way to link with friends, safely share a drink with a stranger and experience that good happy hour vibe. It’s also a great way to keep bartenders working and tipped, during this time of uncertainty. Happied will host virtual happy hours twice a week and the first is scheduled for this Saturday. Register now to participate at playhardercrew.com.
The shero force behind Happied is April Johnson, Esq. April grew up in Inglewood, California and after graduating from UCLA, attended Georgetown University Law Center. April was a brilliant student and was offered a job with a corporate law firm right out of law school. She was well compensated but still, her passion was entrepreneurship. She made the daring choice to leave a six-figure lifestyle to launch Happied. To better understand her restaurant customers, just a few months ago she took on part time work at a top DC restaurant. April was herself laid off from the restaurant due to COVID-19 and definitely feels their pain. April and her partner, Sharon Cao, are stepping up to assist them. The Happied app is currently active in Washington, DC and plans to expand to other cities, soon. However, you can register to participate in virtual happy hours no matter where you live, by going to playhardercrew.com. Also, download the Happied app by clicking here.
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