FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STEVE’S HOT DOGS ON THE HILL RETURNS TO GRASS ROOTS FOR EXPANSION EFFORT
Local musician owner Steve Ewing plans to crowd fund $15,000 to Expand to Tower Grove East
St. Louis, Mo., May 9, 2014 — Steve’s Hot Dogs on the Hill announces plans to expand to a second location in Tower Grove East in the City of St. Louis. Steve Ewing, restaurant owner and front man of the popular St. Louis-based band The Urge, plans to raise funds through the crowd funding website Indiegogo to help fund the expansion. Expansion of the restaurant is happening in tandem with the reopening of the famed Tick Tock Tavern at 3459 Magnolia. The campaign to fund Steve’s Hot Dogs’ expansion will launch June 2 and run through July 5.
Crowd funding is giving Steve, a St. Louis native, the opportunity to directly contact his grassroots following that has fueled his creative endeavors for more than two decades. Fans, customers and supporters of the Tower Grove neighborhood will be asked to support Steve’s Hot Dogs by making financial contributions to help cover the final expansion costs such as paint, flooring, appliances and a new kitchen. Giving levels will begin at $10 and continue up to $5,000. Each giving level will be associated with a specific perk such as free hot dogs and merchandise to a house concert given by Steve Ewing.
The campaign will kick off June 3 at a crowd funding panel event hosted by the St. Louis Social Media Club at Perennial Artisan Ales. The restaurant will make social media “Ambassador Kits” available to supporters as early as May 23 through StevesHotDogsSTL.com and Facebook. Ambassadors will be given promotional messages, graphics, videos. Steve wants his digital ambassadors to have ownership in the project. Those who want to stay updated on the campaign and the digital ambassador team can visit blankpage.leadpages.net/
One of the most exciting aspects of Steve’s expansion efforts is his partnership with the Tick Tock Tavern. Steve will continue to serve his hickory-smoked brand of gourmet hot dogs while the newly re-opened Tick Tock Tavern will serve local craft beers, Anheuser-Busch products, wine, cocktails, and a small food menu. Steve and his partners, Fred Hessel, executive director of the Carondelet Community Betterment Federation, Thomas Crone, a St. Louis writer, and Steven Fitzpatrick Smith, owner of The Royale, will operate under the restaurant and adjacent bar model, which has seen success in St. Louis.
Steve hopes that later hours and more space at the second location will serve families and the dinner crowd in a greater way. High customer demand and space limitations are consistent issues at the restaurant’s first location and he is excited for the opportunity to serve more people for longer hours each day.
Steve and his Tick Tock Tavern partners believe that the combination of his critically acclaimed gourmet hot dogs (named “Best Hot Dog in St. Louis” by the Riverfront Times) and the reopening of a beloved St. Louis bar will be an irresistible offer for new and returning customers.
The heart of the campaign is the city of St. Louis and the Tower Grove East neighborhood. “St. Louis has been good to my band and me,” said Steve. He views his expansion effort as an investment in the Tower Grove East neighborhood, its families, and its culture. “I want this new restaurant to be a rallying point for families. The family and neighborhood factors are very important to me. I hope that we can benefit Tower Grove East and its families as much as they will benefit the new restaurant.”
Always the showman, Ewing will close the campaign on July 5 in tandem with The Urge’s much-anticipated concert with 311 and The Wailers as part of 105.7 The Point’s Big Summer Show concert series at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. The concert will mark the end of the campaign, and will fittingly end with fireworks. For tickets, visit www.LiveNation.com.
About Steve’s Hot Dogs on the Hill
Founded in 2011, Steve’s Hot Dogs on the Hill began as an idea to provide fans of Steve’s band, the Urge, with a post-show hot dog cart. It quickly developed in to a restaurant that is now open all year. Using only the finest of local ingredients, Steve’s Hot Dogs offer a wide variety of gourmet hot dogs, sausages, soups, chili, and Italian beef. The restaurant offers indoor and outdoor dining spaces as well as delivery. For more information, visit www.steveshotdogsstl.com.
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