Today we’d like to introduce you to Danny & Helenita Frounfelkner. They share their story with us below:
Danny grew up in Napa Valley and has been in the beverage and hospitality for the last 20 years, working as a beverage director/sommelier at several top Houston restaurants and restaurant groups. After years in the industry, tasting all day, he realized he had an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, which we think a lot of people experienced during the pandemic. He cut back on his drinking in 2019 and stopped entirely in 2020 during the pandemic and really re-evaluated things. Danny purposely challenged himself to become more mindful about his habits and lifestyle. Wanting to live a healthier, more full life centered around intention, he began living an alcohol-free life. He’s always been an avid flavor seeker so he knew there had to be options out there for those who want the full flavor without the negative effects of alcohol. , and t Those are exactly the delicious non-alc beverages they stock and spotlight at SIPPLE—drinks that offer all the fun and zero downside.
Helenita, a native Houstonian, has been on the cutting edge of web design and development and spent the last decade growing a successful baby brand’s eCommerce site, resulting in increased sales even through the pandemic. After years of drinking, she took a break in the fall of 2020 and quickly realized how much her overall health, mood, energy and allergies improved. For her, the normalization of “mommy drinking” culture and the damage it was doing to her parenting and patience with her kids made her cut back on drinking. She joined her husband to launch their eCommerce website and then they opened their store near Rice Village in October 2021.
The first nine months of business far surpassed anything they imagined. Houston was absolutely ready for a store like this. With only about 10-15% of their customers identifying as sober, there are myriad reasons why Houstonians are kicking their drinking habits to the curb. Nestled near MD Anderson, the Frounfelkners see a lot of patients undergoing chemo who aren’t able to drink alcohol but still want to have a great quality of life.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road and we still get our fair share of negative comments. Simply finding a location proved to be the hardest as our concept was such a new idea. Many landlords scoffed at the notion that anyone would want to shop at a place that didn’t sell any alcoholic beverages. We were turned down several times until we found the perfect spot near Rice Village and our landlords couldn’t be more supportive of our concept.
Of course, there are those who simply aren’t ready for the non-alcoholic lifestyle who just don’t get it. We’re here to help educate our customers every step of the way, to help them overcome whatever obstacles they have but we are also welcoming of all! There’s no judgment when you walk into the doors of our shop.
We’ve been impressed with SIPPLE, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
SIPPLE is the first and only non-alcoholic bottle shop in Texas and it’s located right here in Houston! We sell non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits for anyone who’s looking to cut back on alcohol for a day, week, month, year or a lifetime, no matter what their why may be. We don’t believe in trading alcohol for sugar, so most of the products in the store are very low in sugar content, making our beverages a great “better-for-you” option.
We’re a husband and wife team who have bootstrapped SIPPLE and built it from the ground up, without any investors or outside funding and that’s something we’re incredibly proud of. Danny’s experience in the beverage industry truly sets him apart from other shops because he’s worked in all three tiers of the beverage industry and has a fully holistic view of how it works from production to distribution to buying and building a beverage program. While our main focus is on our shop, we also love taking to the streets and hosting our non-alcoholic pop-up bars at local spots around town like Axelrad, Winnie’s and Roots Wine Bar, where we held Houston’s first six course dinner and non-alcoholic wine pairing.
When we aren’t running the shop or events around town, you can find Danny co-hosting a podcast with sober influencer, Laura Silverman, called By Volume, where music and all things alcohol-free come together!
We want all of our customers to leave SIPPLE with a smile on their faces. Venturing into the non-alc space can be intimidating but we’re here to help! We offer samples of any of the non-alc spirits that we have open in our store and everything is available as single-serve so people can mix and match a 6 pack to see what they like. There’s a lot of skepticism when it comes to NA options and we get it. Our shelves are stocked with over 150 great products that will make you feel like you’re enjoying an elevated adult beverage without the negative effects of alcohol. We oftentimes tell folks to enjoy these options for what they are, not what they’re trying to be.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Go into this space with an open mind and have fun experimenting with flavors! If you try a non-alcoholic wine and don’t like it, don’t give up on all non-alcoholic wines. Try another one next time!
Just like there are terrible bottles of alcoholic wines or beer or spirits, there will be terrible options in the NA space, too. We fully vet every single bottle that hits our shelves to make sure it’s delicious, low in sugar and that the people behind the brand are great, too. Set expectations from the get-go. You wouldn’t walk into a restaurant or liquor store or even a grocery store expecting to love everything in it, so don’t expect to love everything in the non-alcoholic space, either! We all have our own taste buds and preferences and it doesn’t suddenly change when you take alcohol out of the equation.
Know that 1+1 will never equal 3, so it won’t be an exact replica of its alcoholic counterpart. Enjoy it for what it is!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sipple.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sipple.co/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sipple.co/
Image Credits
Therron Francis @therraunch Quy Tran Photography @quytranphotography
