Albert Makhmutov Biography

Other suffering to open their own bar will be able to draw from their story a conclusion whether the game is worth the candle. Even when I sit at the table, I can’t relax: something bothers all the time, ”Albert Makhmutov begins the story. In the year, the couple spent a vacation in Baku and, together with a friend of Azerbaijan, went to a bar, where local wines were poured. Inspired by the atmosphere, they realized that in Kazan such a bar was not enough.

A stereotype was distributed that if you go to drink wine, then in a restaurant, in the evening, dressed at least in Smart Casual, ”says Makhmutov. And in Baku everything is much easier. We saw young people in shorts and sneakers who talk, drink wine - everything is at ease and fun. And, as thousands of predecessors, Albert and Zagali were inspired by the idea of ​​opening their own bar, but the matter, unlike many, was brought to the end: having arrived in Kazan, they carried out monitoring, looked at the city with a critical look and made sure that the niche was absolutely free.

Albert Makhmutov: “In Kazan, until recently, there were no wine bars. A stereotype was distributed that if you go to drink wine, then in the restaurant, dressed at least in Smart Casual ” - we devoted all their free time to the market for six months: we read, read, read it endlessly to understand how to open a catering, what are the norms and requirements for restaurants and bars.

And in parallel they dragged themselves in a winery: they bought, tasted, listened, because we had intuitive knowledge about the fault, ”says Makhmutov. While the couple studied, searched for staff and the premises, at the end of the autumn-winter of the year, establishments began to appear that positioned themselves as wine: “Bread and Wine”, “Wine and Kitchen”, “Kama”. It seemed that others were picked up from the air, implemented it to life.

If establishments began to appear in our format, I don’t know, maybe they would have abandoned our idea ... On the other hand, this is the market. The proposal develops demand. Now I would have thought well whether to get involved in such a story. Although, looking around, you understand: it turned out cool. From the first day, we ensured a complete landing - we knew who our target audience was: young people from 25 to 35 years old, intelligent, educated, successful.

They responded, including thanks to my vast acquaintances in the advertising and creative areas. We rely on the mouth, and it worked. We were not spent on promotion at all. Now we are sending a small budget only for advertising on Instagram. True, there we can’t even advertise normally according to the advertising law. With a premises in the center of Kazan, the spouses, one might say, was lucky.

A couple of premises on the trade union, including the building, in which the Mellow of Vladimir Klopoukh, the Fomin bar, are now located, the couple missed. They got a premises on Ostrovsky, which other tenants seemed to simply not see. In the halls of the historical monument, which is under the protection of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan and in which the bank was previously located, beautiful brick arches were sewn with drywall.

True, this building is far from active pedestrian traffic, but this did not have a negative effect on attendance. They got a premises on Ostrovsky, which other tenants, it seems, simply did not see in the development of the menu and the wine card completely rely on professionals. Now the bar of the bar consists of the positions of wines, including Russian production. Now, a little of our south began to appear worthy farming.

I mean not large, but small private winery that win prizes at international exhibitions. Due to the double excise, the assortment of Tatarstan wholesalers is quite different from what the capital bars can offer. But, according to Albert Makhmutov, this is a small problem, the existing line is enough for the development of consumers. It was lucky with the waiters: part of the team are specialists who were unemployed after the closing of the Gallery of the Wine.

Kazan from the center does not choose how much money went to the entire project, the owner of the bar does not disclose, he only clarifies that there were no third -party investors and had to count on himself to the maximum. My wife and I are from ordinary families with ordinary income. If it didn’t work, we would have to dig a long time to pay debts. The opening of the bar was a great risk, because, of course, we did not order marketing research, built conclusions on assumptions.

But the family has a rear. Albert Makhmutov continues to work in his Spotmakers video production by the Executive Director. The trend is obvious: people began to drink good and different wine in the same way as some time ago began to drink different varieties of beer, and not just “light” and “dark”-I do not put the financial super-assassins “truth”. But we live in a world of money, and it is important to earn money.

We went to self -sufficiency of the bar open in August, this is a good result, ”says Makhmutov. We are asked whether a commercial is a story or not. I can’t give an unambiguous answer to this question.First of all, we are pleased that we put a soul here, that we can work here, communicate with guests, change the city for the better. Probably a business of pure water is the structure of the network.

But this is not our story. On average, the attendance of "truth" is 40 people a day. The average check is 1 thousand for the bar, given the reduction in demand and the crisis situation, this is a good check, Albert is sure. True, it is very difficult to predict how demand will develop in Kazan, the director of the bar believes. The trend is obvious: people began to drink good and different wine in the same way as some time ago began to drink different varieties of beer, and not just “light” and “dark”.

Just at that time, wine bars began to appear and gained popularity in Moscow.

But Kazan is a capricious city, not to take it. Due to all the events, the city became more beautiful and cooler, more interesting for investment and guests, began to develop much faster than this process would go naturally. In Kazan, a lot of things open, and the people spent somewhat. We have a lot of entertainment. How many times did Deep Purple come? Two times for sure.

People do not go to hockey, football, everyone is spoiled by entertainment, their excess. Not to surprise us. Therefore, when new places open, it is very difficult to hold your client and guest. And to us too. We see both climbs and recessions when new institutions open. Therefore, it remains only to continue to do your job well so that your people return. Other life hacks simply do not exist.

Another factor is the unevenness of this forced growth. There are a lot of places for new establishments, because the territory outside the center is completely not occupied, but as a result, if you want to spend the evening, you go to the center, Makhmutov states. Sibgat Khakim Street in the Novo-Savinovsky district is the only one that erodes the stereotype.

The question is whether people will walk. I think not yet. So there was a habit. Aigul Chuprina, photo VK.