Business Spotlight: Paint the Town

Relax. Sip. Visit. Paint.

That’s the mantra behind downtown Springfield’s RSVPaint LLC, a paint-and-sip studio capitalizing on a growing trend.

The concept is simple: An artist teaches a group how to replicate a canvas painting in a couple of hours, while guests enjoy their favorite adult beverages.

With studios named Paint & Pinot, Drunken Paintbrush and Picasso’s Grapevine, the roughly 25-year-old concept is thought to have started in the South but has gained traction in the last decade as Americans eagerly began drinking up the paint-and-sip trend. Four national paint-and-sip franchises hit the top 50 on Entrepreneur magazine’s 2015 list of new franchises, with Pinot’s Palette’s 125 locations leading nationwide.

RSVPaint owners Fred and Amanda Carper purchased the business two years ago from founder Emily Monroe.

“It was a hobby for her, but it just became a time burden,” Fred Carper says of Monroe, who is a Greene County assistant prosecuting attorney.

“Our first goal was to expand and expand big.”

Full steam ahead
RSVPaint is a direct product of the trend.

“I visited a paint-and-sip studio in Bloomington, Ill., in 2011,” Monroe recalls. “I thought it was very fun and that my hometown would enjoy something like it.”

Originally in 720 square feet at 420 S. Campbell Ave., the Carpers moved RSVPaint into 4,000 square feet just down the street at 440 S. Campbell Ave. – but they didn’t stop there. A year and a half ago, the Carpers opened a second RSVPaint studio in Joplin and already are working out the logistics of a third.

“We’re originally from Joplin. We have a lot of family there. It was the logical choice,” Fred Carper says. “Right now, we are perfecting the model and looking for a third location in southwest Missouri or maybe northwest Arkansas.”

Carper declined to disclose annual revenues but says the combined locations average about 250 painters a week. With prices ranging from $25 to $45 a head, RSVPaint brought in a rough minimum of $300,000 last year.

Originally operating on the BYOB – or bring your own bottle – model, the Carpers recently invested $12,000 to install a full bar serving wine, beer and mixed drinks. Completed last month, Carper says costs included new coolers and extra plumbing and wiring.

“We wanted to branch out and explore more unique wines and craft beers,” he says, adding BYOB is still permitted, but the studio now charges a corking fee. “The decision to keep raising the bar on the bar was very customer driven. If the ladies brought wine, often their dates just wanted a beer.”

Constructed from reclaimed barn wood, the balcony bar overlooks the paint studio where rows of wooden easels sit on long tables, paint stained with the glory of projects gone by. The Springfield studio goes through roughly 25 gallons of paint and 1,000 canvases each month. Visitors to the studio are greeted by a wall of “Internet famous” pet portraits, examples crafted for the monthly Paint Your Pet session, and an assortment of goods from local artisans, including handmade cards and T-shirts that support the arts program in Cassville schools.

“Being downtown in Springfield and Joplin is important to us. We want to be a part of the arts culture,” Carper says. “We are all about supporting local artists, be they amateurs or professionals.”

Beyond paint-and-sip
RSVPaint employs three in Joplin and seven in Springfield, including lead artist Christie Snelson. The 2013 Missouri State University art graduate conceptualizes many of the studio’s painted offerings, including the most popular “Bird Word.”

“All the designs are simple pieces put together to make something special,” she says. “It’s fun encouraging people to find their artistic voice and to see the talent that comes out.”

During her two years with the company, Snelson helped establish RSVPaint as a partner to the local arts community. RSVPaint participates in Frist Friday Art Walks and recently opened two gallery spaces for local exhibitions.

“We want to be more than just a paint-and-sip place; we want to be part of the artistic fiber,” says Snelson, who also paints commissioned pieces, mostly oil-on-canvas portraits.

RSVPaint opens the studio to walk-ins each Wednesday for $25 a person and gives back to the community through sessions it calls Paint it Forward, which groups can book as a fundraiser. RSVPaint donates 20 percent of class profits.

“Art is a rewarding experience,” Snelson says. “We want to share that.”