As Carl Radke gets closer to opening Soft Bar, he's revealing new details about the business — including exactly how much he invested.
In Season 9, Episode 8 of Summer House, Carl officially launched his Soft Bar brand with a garden party hosted in New Jersey. It was a major occasion since Carl, who is four years sober, had invested a notable amount of time and money into the venture.
"I put a lot of work into this," he said in his confessional. "I put over $100,000 of my own money in."
The launch party saw the debut of the Soft Bar sprinter van, which serves non-alcohol drinks and beverages with added benefits like mushrooms. One mocktail served at the party was called the "High Road," described as an "uplifting" drink.
As Carl explained, Soft Bar is a "mindful consumption bar and cafe" that serves non-alcoholic drinks. "There's no guarantees with this, "Carl said. "But I would rather fall flat on my face going towards something that I truly believe in and that i'm passionate about than not."
Carl also has plans to own Soft Bar's brick and mortar location in Greenpoint, a neighborhood located in north Brooklyn, later this year.
What is Soft Bar?
Soft Bar is a non-alcoholic bar and café with a focus on "mindful consumption."
Carl originally intended to open a non-alcoholic sports bar, but he changed his mind after bringing up the idea to his then-fiancée, Lindsay Hubbard, who strongly encouraged him to reconsider the premise during Season 8. He then pivoted to a "mindful consumption bar and cafe" based on her feedback.
And though Carl was originally upset by Lindsay's delivery, he says in the Summer House After Show video above that he actually thinks "she was giving good feedback."
"I appreciated her reaction in that moment because I didn't have a great idea. Starting a sober sports bar probably isn't a great idea right now," he reflected. "But a bar and a cafe that serves coffee, functional drinks, has an experience — that's a better idea... But I didn't immediately have that. Her reaction actually led me to where I'm at now."
Why is Carl's business called Soft Bar?
Although fans speculated when Carl first announced the bar's name that it was a reference to him asking Lindsay for more "softness," during their relationship, he shut that down at the time and explained more in the After Show video below.
"I've said this a few times. This is my goal when I set to make a name. Like, you can blow your nose with another product, tissue paper, but everybody calls it Kleenex. I love the ubiquity of the name. Soft Bar, to me, has that. It's a place where you go drink amazing non-alc drinks."
He added, "Nothing to do with my relationship — trust me."
Carl added that he and Kyle Cooke were in Europe and saw the "softs" label for non-alcoholic drinks, which inspired him. "Europe's always ahead of the curve," Kyle chimed in.
But Carl assumed that he wouldn't be able to get the trademark for the name Soft Bar so he planned to call it Present Soft Bar and Cafe, a name that was admittedly "terrible." So they double checked with a lawyer to see if the trademark for Soft Bar was taken already, and it was. However, the trademark coincidentally expired the day of his meeting, so they were able to moved forward with the new name.
"So if people think that I named my f--king company after Lindsay, and you hear all of that, then you are the crazy one," he concluded.
Learn about Soft Bar's name in the video below, and get more details on the business in the After Show video above. Plus, get a sneak peek at Soft Bar here.
