UPTOWN — After entrepreneur Eric Reid's Kickstarter campaign to bring an upscale cocktail lounge to Uptown was funded, he "exhaled for the first time in 30 days," he said.
Reid had been planning the "old-world pharmacy"-themed Apothecary, which pays homage to his day job as a pharmacist, for about two years. Last month, he began crowdfunding $25,000 to finally get the project off the ground. Tuesday, his sister sent him a screenshot showing he had surpassed his goal, he said.
"I was at work and my cellphone was going crazy. It almost fell off the table. I looked at it and was like 'I think I know what this is about,'" Reid said as a smile as big as the Kool-Aid man's crept over his face. "It's still kind of surreal. I'm obviously pretty happy."
He was so exhausted afterward that he took a day off to get away from the stress but quickly "learned the first rule of owning a business" — there's no time to rest. Wednesday, he was bombarded with congratulations, especially from his mom and sisters a.k.a. his "proofreaders," he said.
"They've both been put to work, so it was really a win for everyone," he said.
After reaching the goal, Reid updated his Kickstarter with a thank-you note to all his backers. Quoting his mother, he thanked the 78 backers for their contributions, which was "nothing to shake a stick at."
"We did it!!! I’m stunned. Jaw, meet floor," the note began. "I don’t even know where to begin. I can humbly say that I may have supplied the concept, but YOU made it possible. I am eternally grateful!"
"To see Apothecary’s progress is quite remarkable. There is still plenty to accomplish before a grand opening day, but we just cleared a major hurdle," read the note.
The next step is to send out all the personal thank you notes and preparing for the #FLATSProject, a small business and community accelerator project designed to give the people "who devote their lives to [their business] a chance to hit the ground running." The contest, which kicks off in 2016 (an exact date has not been set), promises "more than $100,000 in benefits to their business from day one," according to its website.
Reid hopes to open Apothecary at the former Lawrence House, at 1020 W. Lawrence Ave., which was bought by FLATS Chicago in 2013. FLATS has already announced Heritage Outpost will open a bar in the lobby and has made no promises about what other businesses will be there.
"I'm shooting for FLATS and hoping I present a really solid project, but if not [I'll] go to Plan B," Reid said earlier this week.
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