Success Story Part 1: A Bar’s Origin and Journey

If a bar’s walls could talk, you could imagine the stories it would tell. The secrets, truths, tales, and a mix of all three from patrons, bartenders, cooks, and other staff remain trapped under layers of paint, trying to escape unsuccessfully through the cracks. But every now and then, there’s a special bar with a classic design, heft, and durability that embarks on an epic journey. It’s the kind of bar you see once in 125 years, about to celebrate its Quasquicentennial. It doesn’t need to rely on walls to tell stories because the bar is the story.

This bar’s story is told in four acts, beginning in the big city of Chicago in the late 19th Century and continuing down-state to this very day.

Act 1: The Origin
When you consider the bar’s roots, it makes sense that it was destined for longevity. Anheuser Busch Co. commissioned the bar in 1882, which was designed and built by Brunswick Balke-Collender. The TIMES-PRESS of Streator, IL, described it as, “…a splendid oak and brass structure with intricately carved detailing that measured 14 feet high by 30 feet long and featured 13 electrified gas lights with three sections of mirror and colonnades. The front bar had a copper foot rail and a marble base.”

Anheuser Busch was impressed enough to display the bar at The World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 where it resided in the company’s pavilion for the Fair’s year-long run. When the Fair concluded, sponsors of the exhibits sold displays and showpieces. A barkeep by the name of John Trapp purchased the bar and had it transported by Anheuser Busch’s famed Clydesdale horses some 100 miles away to the small industrial town of Streator and placed in his saloon, Trapp’s Tavern.

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It’s the kind of bar you see once in 125 years, about to celebrate its Quasquicentennial. It doesn’t need to rely on walls to tell stories because the bar is the story.

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Act 2: Trapped
At the time, Streator had a prolific coal and manufacturing industry and was known as a midwestern railroad hub. Business was good at Trapp’s Tavern, located on Main Street, and the new bar, fresh off it’s run at The World’s Fair, attracted many patrons. According to the TIME-PRESS, the one beer served was Anheuser Busch, and one story reports the kitchen cooked only roast beef sandwiches, while another adds navy bean and chicken noodle soups, and ham sandwiches. Every account, though, notes, “One of the pieces Trapp purchased with the bar was a ‘women’s room’, which was a 15-foot by 15-foot oak and glass walled cubicle where women sat waiting until their men had their fill in the saloon.”

Act 3: Moving Inn
After an 82-year run, the legendary Trapp’s Tavern went out of business, but the allure of the bar grew stronger. Much like the previous century all those decades ago, a new face purchased the bar and gave it a new home. On June 27, 1976, Victor Anderes of Peru, Illinois bought the bar at auction for $26,000. Trapp’s Tavern and the renowned bar went out in style, as an estimated crowd of 200 people from as far as California, Colorado, and Florida gathered for the event. Anderes, a restaurateur, moved the bar to his new business, the Rockwell Inn in Morris, Illinois, 38 miles to the north east.

Recognized more than ever as a marvel of craftsmanship and utility, the bar was installed as the focal point of the new space. Anderes paid homage to its history, naming the room it resided in “The Columbian Exposition Lounge”, while defiantly renaming the former “Women’s Room” the “Not for Women Only” room. The bar even survived a major fire in 1985 because it was somehow shielded from the flames by the tin ceiling that collapsed on it.

Act 4: Greener Pastures
In 2013, the Rockwell Inn shuttered its doors, presumably ending the bar’s intrastate historical journey. This time there were no post-World’s Fair buyers or auctioneers, bidders, or Clydesdales to move the bar to its new home. Finally, the bar had succumbed to its final chapter.

Or so the city of Morris thought.

The forces of change, innovation, entrepreneurship, and nostalgia are powerful enough to revitalize a relic. On August 1, 2013, Illinois enacted the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act. In 2014, Chicagoland-based Grassroots Cannabis launched and soon engaged Cannabis Facility Construction to design-build its new Greenhouse dispensary in Morris, using an existing space once called the Rockwell Inn. Converting an old restaurant into a medical cannabis dispensary would present many challenges, but one thing was crystal clear: that sleeping, history-weary bar would make its greatest comeback yet.

Read More: Success Story Part 2: Converting a Historical Restaurant into the Greenhouse Dispensary

References
McCullough, D. (1987) ‘World’s Fair flavor found in old bar furniture’, TIMES-PRESS, Streator, 29 July
(1983) ‘Main Street Trapp’s has long history in Streator’, TIMES-PRESS, Streator, 12 May
(1976) ‘Purchases Trapp’s Bar For $26,000’, TIMES-PRESS, Streator, 28 June

How to Safeguard Your Cannabis Business from Cyber Threats

The cannabis industry had a banner year in 2018, highlighted by Canada becoming the second country to pass national legalization, the Farm Bill lifting restrictions on the commercial farming of hemp, and more states expanding their recreational and medical cannabis programs. Unfortunately, the intersection of innovation and growth has been tainted by cyber attacks. Notably, the Ontario Cannabis Store, an online retailer and wholesaler, and Denver-based software firm, MJ Freeway, experienced major data breaches. We’ve discussed security best practices for your dispensary, and now we examine how to safeguard your cannabis business from cyber threats.

Have an Airtight Point of Sale System

The hardware and software combination that centralizes your business operations makes POS systems prime targets for hackers. The data stored in POS systems contain valuable and sensitive customer, employee, inventory, and operational information. Invest the time with your POS vendor to fully understand security coverage used to protect your data, their servers, and the privacy of your patients.

 

“There is an enormous incentive for hackers to target our young and immature industry…”

 

Ensure all Integrated Systems are Secure

While POS systems are one entry point for hackers and ransomware, so are the openings created by integrated systems. Cannabis businesses often use POS, Business Management, and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems together. It’s a best practice, but it also provides hackers with a low barrier of entry into your data. Protect vulnerable business data by sealing any security gaps during the integration process.

Hire an Independent Cyber Security Expert

Go all in by hiring a third party to ensure security across the board. If recent history is any indication, cannabis businesses will continue to be vulnerable to data breaches–leaking tax records, social security numbers and citizenship information–that can have devastating bottomline and reputational impacts. The right cyber security provider will not only ensure compliance, but also proactively protect your customers and investment.

Conclusion

Burgeoning cannabis businesses recognize that with great success comes great risk. In the race to ensure regulatory compliance and business growth and sustainability, protecting your operational data must be a top priority. Dr. Moe Afaneh, COO of BioTrackTHC, sums it up nicely: “Cannabis businesses are literally gold miners [sic] in the sense that their software data will define the future of this industry and their success. There is an enormous incentive for hackers to target our young and immature industry, which is why the last thing you want to do is make it easy for them.”