Plants and flowers fill the cozy shop, which has beautiful wooden beams running across the ceiling. Shelves of delicious nonalcoholic drinks cover one wall. For plant-loving nondrinkers, Ever After’s pop-up shop inside Colibri Flowers is paradise. But pop-ups are, by nature, of limited duration — and now Portland’s NA bottle shop is looking for a permanent home.
Owner Ariel Dunitz-Johnson met me at a local Portland café to tell me about why Portland needs an NA bottle shop and dedicated sober space, and why they’re so passionate about bringing that to the community.
Dreaming of a bottle shop
Ariel grew up in Portland but spent much of their adult life working as an artist in New York and San Francisco. During the pandemic, they returned to Portland and bought a house. “I was six months sober when the pandemic hit,” they told me over tea at the sidewalk café. I was reevaluating everything in my life pretty much. And it felt like the right thing for me to have more space, more quiet.”
Ariel had a deep love for food and beverages. “I was the kind of person who had a wine club membership, and paired all my dinners,” they said. But in sobriety, those options decreased. So while everybody else was baking sourdough bread, Ariel filled their pandemic days with creating syrups and flavored salts. “I was like, what if I opened a shop, and we could have a huge selection that was just NA products?”
Artist Lisa Congdon shared Ariel’s excitement, and soon they’d teamed up on the concept — with Lisa brainstorming colorful bottle shop designs. Lisa introduced Ariel to Shelley Elkovich, the canned mocktail entrepreneur behind For Bitter For Worse. And Shelley put Ariel in touch with Chris Marshall of Sans Bar fame. Which just shows that not ALL the deals and connections are made over booze. We connect over non-booze, too!
Sans Bar Academy
After the success of Austin’s Sans Bar, Chris opened up Sans Bar Academy. This 10-week virtual program has helped many people explore their ideas of opening sober bars, bottle shops and other enterprises. Ariel signed up. “Chris has so much experience in the industry,” they said. “I think what it really gave me was a chance to dive into and explore my vision and my why. Why am I doing this? What’s important to me? What I learned in doing that was community is important to me and connection is important to me. And inclusive spaces are important to me. Accessibility is important to me.”
Ariel’s concept for a bottle shop quickly expanded into a bigger idea that would also offer space for workshops and events. Most of their experience was in art, not business, so they had a lot to learn. Fortunately, Ariel found a lot of help from other Portland business owners and from the 80+ Sans Academy graduates who participate in a Slack channel. “We talk about brands, pricing. We have a hug channel if you’re having a hard day. It’s a really cool community of people. I just feel like we all want each other to succeed and uplift each other, which is so refreshing.”
Going online
Now that the Colibri pop-up has run its course, Ariel is bringing their shop online while they fundraise for a permanent brick-and-mortar space. The e-commerce site will be geared toward the Portland community, with options for local pickup.
“I’ve spent a lot of time curating the products,” Ariel said. “I’ve vetted the products and the businesses as carefully as I can. So I feel proud of the selection.”
Ariel is also planning some events in conjunction with Vivienne Culinary Books in NE Portland, such as talks about sobriety paired with a sober bar.
Fundraising
A brick-and-mortar place will require money. Ever After’s crowdsourcing campaign was about one-third funded at press time. Ariel is actively looking for investors. The day we met, they were hard at work on a pitch deck.
Ariel is pouring all their energy into Ever After. “I’m trying to find more balance but I’m not quite there yet,” they said. “It’s hard. It’s a lot. And I want it to succeed. I feel passionately about it. I feel like it’s my way to be of service in the community to build this thing even if it’s hard. It’s okay that it’s hard.”
Why do they care so much?
“I think NA products are harm reduction,” Ariel told me. “They’re mental health support. They’re tools for sobriety. It’s important.”
It’s always the perfect day for a perfect day! SOBRIETY IN THE CITY is your guide to substance-free adventures and events in cities across the United States. We’re bringing you hidden gems, local hangouts, art exhibits, unique attractions and pop-up events, limited shows, and tours. Being fully present allows us to enjoy life to the fullest. But we’re still taking it all in, just one day at a time.
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