Page 29 - July 2021

Swingers Dupont Circle, Washington D.C., USA

amazing cocktails,” says Grech-Smith. their venues. These ‘winners’ podiums have a special ten-camera rig
Their next site is on course to open early next year in the Flatiron attached that create an MP4 file that winners can then share on their
District of Manhattan, New York City and it will be a sprawling social media accounts.
23,000sq ft space that will be totally unique and unlike anything New “While we are not driven by social media, we are acutely aware
Yorkers will have seen before. that a lot of customers are coming in and talking about our venue on
Back in March, the company announced it had raised a further social media. So what we do is give them lots of tools so that they can
$20M of follow-on funding from their investor, Cain International for talk to their audiences about the experience they have at Swingers,”
additional sites in other great US locations for Swingers that met a Grech-Smith explains.
similar profile to Washington and New York in terms of sophisticated The team at Swingers all work towards one goal and that is to
consumers and possessing a good nightlife culture. offer people the most fun possible. This idea of making every element
When discussing the future of retail and how to engage customers, of the experience, from the service to the food, drinks and the golf
Grech-Smith feels that they must continue re-evaluating their offer world-class, is what separates them from their competitors in the
and making sure they are giving their guests a really good experience market. Matt understands that people are trusting them with their
that includes quality components. In the case of Swingers, it is great night out so the whole experience is crafted to give people the most
food and drink, great service and great value. ridiculously fun night out possible with all these elements combined
“After the last 18 months or so, people are keen to get back to to make one truly memorable night.
socialising but I feel they are also very discerning about where they Looking towards the future, growth is the biggest challenge for
want to spend their time and money. To this end, we are always the business. Currently a small team, the company is growing rapidly
concentrating on our proposition and what we can do to enhance so the challenges are to retain the level of communication and the
the experience for guests.” individual touch on each of the venues.
Social media is a huge driver of the business as their venues are “All the things you can do as a small business, we want to be able
very photogenic, which is of course is a key way to gain traction to continue doing as a larger business and with the team we have we
on social media, particularly Instagram. An innovative way they have feel the foundations are in place for the challenges that lie ahead as
grown their social media status is by installing photo podiums in we continue to grow,” Grech-Smith concludes.

Swingers West End, London, UK
Retail & leisuRe inteRnational