# 09/13/22 Update | Lonerider Spirits, LLC

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/feed/157905
- Entity ID: wefunder:feed_item:157905
- Published at: 2022-09-13 13:09:51 UTC
- Updated at: 2025-07-09 03:22:23 UTC

## Author
Chris Mielke

## Subject
Lonerider Spirits, LLC

## Content
Hello All,First, thank you again for all of your support. It is very humbling to receive such generosity. Much has happened since our last update for our spirits business and growth of our Hideout locations. Progress on SpiritsLonerider Spirits hired Mike Watson as the new President of the business. Mike brings over 25 years of experience as an executive in both start-up and Fortune 100 companies. He was most recently the VP Marketing and General Manager of Cree's e-commerce business. As a past founder of several businesses, Mike has experience growing businesses from their founding to over nine-digit revenue. He has successfully guided businesses from semiconductors to consumer/commercial lighting to mobile payment and bottled water. Mike's near-term objectives are to refine our strategic plan to focus on customer acquisition and retention. The holiday season is coming and the response to our Southern Nog and Nutcracker Pecan Bourbon has been excellent. We expect to double the sales of our Nog and begin shipping earlier than ever to fulfill the holiday demand with North Carolina ABC stores. We will sell over 25% more Nog this season than last and it will be featured at several locations in the RTP area.We continue to win awards for our spirits, including a Silver Medal win at the prestigious 2022 SIP Awards for our Nutcracker Pecan Bourbon. The award and our move to 750ml bottles is driving success at key local bars/restaurants. The new 750ml format will begin to ship in October.Tequila Cask Bourbon continues to impress customers and critics alike. As a unique product in the bourbon market, we are now featuring the Tequila Cask product as the leader in our Cask Series. We have positioned our Deadwood Stout Cask product as a "seasonal" bourbon and will produce this year's run in September/October to ship into the NC ABC warehouses for bourbon season.Progress on Lonerider HideoutsWe have received permit approval for the Wake Forest Hideout location and expect to launch spirits tasting and retail sales in October. This is an amazing move forward as this location allows us to benchmark Hideout spirit revenue for our other locations.The Durham Hideout will be a signature location for Lonerider Spirits. The location is under construction and we expect an opening in late fall 2022. We are excited to be part of an emerging entertainment location in Durham and showcase Lonerider.Unfortunately, we have run into complications in opening the Pembroke location, but have focused our time and resources on Durham, Wake Forest and Oak Island. As we continue to evolve our Hideout strategy, experience and success in these locations will help us determine our future expansion plans.Strategy UpdateLonerider Spirits has its founding, heart and soul in North Carolina. As a result, we have decided to focus our strategy on becoming North Carolina's community spirit. While we have aspirations to move beyond our own state borders, we want to make Lonerider THE spirit of North Carolina first. This helps us focus resources both financial and geographically in our home area. As we continue to grow and optimize our business, partnerships and connection to the community, we will look to expand in a way that is scalable.Again, thank you all for your commitment to Lonerider Spirits. We are so excited to have you as partners in driving our objective to become the North Carolina Community Spirit!Chris Mielke, Head of Operations, Lonerider Spirits, LLC