![]() Local regulations governing such businesses vary. “I’m a teacher’s aide, so I need some stress-free time.” Hendrix’s mother, Karen Hendrix, who had been before. This time, they had brought along their mothers, who sat across the table. ![]() In other words, how many paintings of sunsets and butterflies do people want, even if they painted them themselves? A potential long-term challenge was getting customers to return, especially, he said, as “the novelty subsides.” Litalien said that demand for so-called experiential classes was high and that there appeared to be little risk of cannibalization as the industry grew. Annual gross revenue for individual outlets averages about $388,000, according to Painting With a Twist. ![]() The company’s franchise agreement calls for a seven-year commitment. Starting a Painting With a Twist location requires an initial franchise fee of $25,000 total upfront costs, including that fee, can run from $89,000 to $188,000, depending on location. In a 2014 article in Psychological Science (title: “ Waiting for Merlot”), researchers at Cornell University and the University of California, San Francisco, found that just the anticipation of experiences could be more pleasurable than the anticipation of buying merchandise. The growth of such businesses may reflect the findings of recent psychological research showing that people are happier when they have an experience rather than making a purchase. Litalien said, consumers were also increasingly being drawn to experiences that engage them and allow them to express themselves, “rather than simply buying something.” Other examples of experience-based businesses that he cited included Top Golf, where customers play golf-related games, and “escape rooms,” where participants solve puzzles together. The paint-and-sip trend has been driven in part by a generally heightened interest in wine, said Ben Litalien, an instructor in the franchise-management certificate program at Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies.īut, Mr. Companies also schedule classes as team-building exercises or fund-raising events. Some classes are open to anyone others are geared toward couples or “girls night out” groups. She hires local artists to teach the classes, while she and her daughter, Katie Collins, run the business. She is not an artist herself: “I can’t paint a wall,” she said with a shrug. Jean, 59, said she had always wanted to run her own business and had decided on a paint-and-sip shop after taking a class with her sister. “You drink a little, talk a lot and bring something home.” “I tell my husband, ‘It’s like going fishing,’” said Susan Jean, the proprietor of Painting With a Twist’s Bentonville location. The larger chains have hundreds of locations, but single-outlet operations are cropping up as well, attracting adults who want to relax, socialize and flex their artistic muscles. ( Entrepreneur magazine listed Painting With a Twist this year among its 50 fastest-growing franchises.) The gathering this evening was at a local outlet of Painting With a Twist, one of the fastest-growing chains in a category that also includes Bottle & Bottega, Pinot’s Palette, and Wine and Design. Paint-and-sip classes are now offered in Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and London. The trend has been growing for nearly a decade, as more and more people seek diversions in experiences rather than in buying things. The group was settling in for a so-called paint-and-sip class, an increasingly popular activity that mixes art and alcohol. The crowd, mostly women, chatted and swarmed a bar for wine and beer before taking stools at paper-covered tables and turning to the task at hand: painting. On a rainy Friday evening in August, customers trickled into an art studio in a strip mall on a busy main road here.
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