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Photos by Tiffany Young<br />

Beer Bouquet owner Josh Horowitz spends his day processing, packaging and mailing online orders.<br />

BUSINESS<br />

Beer Bouquet<br />

Company replaces flowers<br />

with six packs and snacks<br />

By Tiffany Young<br />

Though open less than a year, Beer<br />

Bouquet has been getting national<br />

attention—featured on CBS’ “Better<br />

Mornings Atlanta” and “Inside the NFL.”<br />

Housed in a warehouse on Hudson Bend,<br />

the business, locally owned by husbandwife<br />

team Josh and Chelsea Horowitz,<br />

is especially popular with men, possibly<br />

because it teams together beer and sports<br />

for what its slogan says is the “ultimate<br />

guy gift.”<br />

“The idea came about as all good ideas<br />

come about—sitting around drinking<br />

beer,” Josh Horowitz said.<br />

He and his friends were at a bar<br />

discussing the various options for easy<br />

gifts to buy for women—such as flowers,<br />

cookie bouquets and fruit baskets.<br />

They wanted something women could<br />

order just as easily for a special man in<br />

her life, and a six-pack <strong>of</strong> beer seemed like<br />

the way to go.<br />

Josh Horowitz, working as a graphic<br />

designer, and Chelsea Horowitz, a<br />

photographer, had already had their first<br />

child while living in New York, when they<br />

decided to move to the Austin area and<br />

start the business.<br />

Soon after moving to Hudson Bend,<br />

they had their second child.<br />

“We both loved Austin and it’s a much<br />

better place [than New York] to raise<br />

children,” Josh Horowitz said.<br />

They began working on licensing about<br />

a year before the move and still had work<br />

to do to convince local politicians and<br />

the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission<br />

to allow the business to ship beer via<br />

Internet orders.<br />

“We were the first in the state to get a<br />

license to do this sort <strong>of</strong> thing, so it took<br />

Most bouquets cost $49.99 and include six beers, a<br />

bucket, a bag <strong>of</strong> peanuts, a koozie, a bottle opener, a<br />

message from the sender and shipping.<br />

a while to get everyone to go along with<br />

it and sign the paperwork,” Josh Horowitz<br />

said.<br />

While most <strong>of</strong> their sales are online, he<br />

said he hopes to get more foot traffic.<br />

“You can just swing by, pick out your<br />

beer and we’ll package it up. It’s an easy<br />

gift for parties,” Josh Horowitz said.<br />

Beer Bouquet delivers to 46 states and<br />

has 150 different sports team logos that<br />

can be ordered on its buckets, ranging<br />

from NASCAR and hockey to baseball<br />

and football. Corporations can also get<br />

their logo on a pail to send as gifts to<br />

customers or employees.<br />

Packaging, which is recyclable, is done<br />

by Austin Foam and Plastics and was<br />

developed between Josh Horowitz and the<br />

company to make sure the glass bottles<br />

would not break during shipping—and so<br />

far he has not gotten a single complaint <strong>of</strong><br />

broken beer bottles from his customers.<br />

Those wanting discounts just need to<br />

choose winning sports teams—Beer Bouquet<br />

<strong>of</strong>ten discounts the teams who win<br />

championships, and the discount remains<br />

until the next season begins—meaning<br />

Aggie fans can—for the time being—get<br />

an “ATM” logo on their beer pail at a<br />

slightly lower rate than usual because <strong>of</strong><br />

the women’s winning basketball season.<br />

Beer Bouquet<br />

4602 Weletka, Ste. 300,<br />

Austin • 487-8786<br />

www.beerbouquet.com<br />

Hudson<br />

Bend Rd.<br />

620<br />

Weletka Dr.<br />

A tailored, individualized, teaching<br />

approach with small class sizes.<br />

Emphasis on language with<br />

Mandarin and Spanish from 2½.<br />

Global outlook in a cross-curricular<br />

teaching environment.<br />

Instructional swim program.<br />

Flexible early-drop <strong>of</strong>f and pick-up from<br />

7.30am to 6pm daily.<br />

Part <strong>of</strong> a family <strong>of</strong> schools with a<br />

25 year track record <strong>of</strong> success.<br />

impact<strong>new</strong>s.com • May 2011 | FEATURES | 23<br />

Abercorn International School<br />

Academic excellence and global learning in the heart <strong>of</strong> Texas<br />

www.abercorninternational.org<br />

Call us now to schedule your private tour:<br />

512 - 222 - 9180<br />

Or visit us at:<br />

601 Ranch Road 620 South<br />

<strong>Lakeway</strong>, TX 78734<br />

Rolling Admissions for boys and<br />

girls from 2 ½ - 11.<br />

OPEN HOUSE:<br />

10:30am<br />

MAY 18th,<br />

25th

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