A neighborhood bar since 2010, a renovation, and a fixed reopening date. Website, brand and systems all had to be ready before the doors opened.
The bar room after the renovation.
An outdated website, a brand never written down, and accounts scattered across old vendors and former staff. The bar reopened on September 4, and that date wasn't moving.
Jason and Nicole needed four things:
Every account, domain and file is in the owners' names. I'm a collaborator they can remove.
I picked Squarespace against the team's skills and budget, and built the posting routine around what the manager already does on Mondays.
Staff wanted short numbered steps. Owners wanted the reasons behind each setting.
Sometimes the right call is not to launch yet. See one we made together ↓
I defined the brand: the direction, "Industrial Modern Sports Bar", the line the bar now runs on, "Red Hook's Living Room", and the chair at the center of the logo, because the idea was a room the whole village treats as its own. I refined it with the owners, then worked with logo designer Kait Gage, who drew the final artwork, across a primary lockup, a secondary lockup and a badge. I also matched the colors to real paint, so the walls match the screen.
Concept and brand direction by Grounded Systems. Final logo artwork by Kait Gage.
An 8-page Squarespace site, including private bookings, events, and a timeline of the building's history. A widget pulls events from Google Calendar; staff update the specials themselves.
A new Google Workspace in the owners' names: email, shared calendars, and one organized Drive for hundreds of scattered files. Old vendor and staff access removed, and the Google Business Profile handed back.
Canva templates for the regular nights, plus a weekly routine: a Monday reminder, posts live by Thursday.
New printed menus, now in use. Point-of-sale cheat sheets, and an operations binder for the kitchen and bar, kept in Google Docs so the team can add to it.
An SEO audit and an AI-visibility setup, so assistants describe the restaurant correctly.
23 East Market Street was once the Lyceum Theatre, and I researched its history. I then worked with the owners on how Charlie O's could take part in Hardscrabble Day (September 19, 2026) in a way that honored the building: walk-throughs of the theatre space, history stations, the projector on display, and a QR code gathering community feedback on what the space could become.
At a dry run, the online ordering setup was showing kitchen modifier codes to guests. It would have confused people on day one, so we decided together to hold it until fall 2026. Not shipping what isn't ready is part of the job.
Every account is in the owners' names, on tools the team can learn. The day I step away is a non-event.
Launching online ordering, finishing the operations binder and ownership documents, seasonal campaigns, and support for the case to reopen the theatre.
Brand direction, the "Red Hook's Living Room" line, and the chair concept by Grounded Systems. Final logo artwork by Kait Gage. Mural by Sean Willett.
If your opening, reopening, or cleanup has a date attached, that's worth a conversation now rather than later.
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