A Conversation with Andrew Werth, Director of Operations, The Meteor

The Meteor in Austin offers a monthly Wine Club Membership that explores their extensive natural wine collection. Each month members will have the opportunity to compare and contrast different bottles of wine from different regions of the world, hand picked from The Meteor team and accompanied with detailed tasting notes.

After partnering with Table22 for almost 2 years for their Austin location, the Meteor expanded to launch a second Wine Club for their shop in Bentonville in 2023! In the interview below Andrew Werth, Director of Cafe Operations, shares more about growth of their Wine Club and decision to expand the partnership with Table22

What is the primary problem or challenge that T22 has helped you and your team solve?

“The main solution that T22 has provided for us is handling customer service for our Wine Club members. When we were running the club ourselves we were operating the pickups and handling delivery logistics, and getting a lot of guest questions that overwhelmed our internal team. Having Table22 take that on and handle the majority of the customer issues has been a salvation for us.”

How has Table22 played a role in guest loyalty?

“T22 has helped strengthen relationships with members through a very responsive customer service and the easy to use Member Portal. When members need to change their subscription or need help with pausing the Wine Club, they can do so very easily. Members are always getting quick responses and are kept in the loop, all that increases member satisfaction and retention.”

What do you love most about Table22?

“I like that it’s a one stop-shop about marketing, subscription billing, and customer service. And I really like the Restaurant Partner Portal – it has a lot of clarity and good reporting. On fulfillment day, the interface makes it very easy to know what needs to be fulfilled and information about the members.”

Did you have any hesitations about working with a third-party?

“Our hesitations were primarily financial - we knew we were going to invest more in the club and working with Table22 was the right answer to take the day to day management out of our hands. But the commission was the main hesitation for us. We have learned to live with it and hope that through our partnership, with additional marketing, we continue to scale and grow the program. The Table22 services make the commission worth it.”

What have you learned from using T22?

“We have learned a lot about the larger community of folks (in Austin and beyond) doing subscription services. What other offerings are possible. Best practices, and seeing how this has worked for other entrepreneurs and restaurateurs. It has been inspirational!”

What would you say to another restaurateur looking to start a subscription service?

“I would say, do not do a wine club in Austin :) We have a lot of those!”