Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Muckerman.
Hi Holly, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I fell in love with craft beer and culture in college while attending the University of Oregon. My (now) husband worked at the original Bier Stein and introduced me to beers from all around the world. After a brief stint in my education-related field I started working at a prestigious bottle shop in Portland, Belmont Station. Through this experience I learned to homebrew, met incredible industry leaders, and learned the ins and outs of running a successful beer business. Eventually I moved back to Eugene where I grew in my career working at local beer holes like Hop Valley on First, Bier Stein on Willamette, Beergarden, Tap & Growler and Publichouse. The last three were all owned by the same folks, Colby Phillips & Patric Campbell and I worked at all three locations at the same time over 7 years in various management and purchasing roles. While working for these businesses I opened my own. Bounty Meat and Cheese, a food cart, that I parked on Beergarden’s patio.
Covid 19 layoffs gave me the time I needed to write another business plan. That is where the PLAY comes from. Rooted in my desire to go hits some balls at a batting cage and my work experience managing tap rooms, owning a food cart, and deep ties to the food truck and beer communities, I developed a multi use facility that focuses on FUN.
Our daughter was born in 2020 and a son joined us in 2023. Learning how to be a family and still participate in craft beer culture and community inspired the family components that are included in PLAY. A space where kids can get up from the table and move freely throughout the space with far reaching sight lines, safe furniture, and dedicated spaces.
The night life components to PLAY’s active event schedule are derived from my husband’s long and successful career as a house music DJ and promoter. Throwing infamous Gaia Tribe events back in the day and touring regularly before settling down in his construction career and fatherhood. Though he can still throw down!
We collaborated on the design of our facility, but he did all the hard work! His skills and eye for aesthetics made our facility what it is today. We do a full change of use on a decrepit office building and transformed it into a community space for all to enjoy!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Ha! How do I even catalog all of the obstacles?
We are funded through a small business loan from a small regional bank. I chose to not take on wealthy investors and instead took on the stress of a bank loan. Navigating this decision was enormously stressful and I had a ton to learn about the different structures of business and financing.
Before this experience I did not have any property development experience. Accomplishing a full change of use on a large downtown building in Eugene had many challenges. I made mistakes with who to work with and paid dearly for that. I was forced to learn about energy coding and government computer software to demonstrate compliance. The city first quoted my development fees at over 100K which would have brought the project to a hault. I had to research the city archive to find documents proving that a portion of the building had been used for retail long ago. The city first rejected my gender neutral toilet rooms because they couldn’t compute the toilet and plumbing fixtures without having genders assigned….. They figured it out. The architect also struggled to wrap his mind around how to make the bathrooms that I designed work. We had to go above and beyond in demonstrating the rationale for why this style of bathroom is superior in all ways for all people, including people with disabilities, families, and trans people, but not limited to those groups.
Learning to manage cash flow on this level and debt management has had a huge learning curve. We are fortunate that our business is thriving allowing to quickly remedy any mistakes made in this department. But BOY! is money stressful.
I could go on.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
What is PLAY? Who is it for?
Work hard. Play hard is more than our wifi password or motto. It’s a lifestyle. An ethos.
Play is not just for children. Play is not just for athletes.
Play is for everyone. Nurturing your playful spirit, sharing smiles, joy, and laughter with your community cultivates a thriving and healthy dynamic that is core to our business and our lives. There are so many ways to play.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My husband, Andrew Muckerman, is 100% in this with me. He is a contractor by trade and not only built the space but is constantly maintaining it.
My Mom, Karen Emery, who supports our children while we work, gives excellent advice based in her career and life experience.
Bill Wagner for endless guidance and support.
The team at PLAY, Mitch Tarbutton, Skyler Rose, Baylee Hamlow, Ash Bedore and so many more. These folks are the heart of the business, growing relationships with patrons and taking great care of what we have built.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.playeugene.com
- Instagram: playeug
- Facebook: playeugene
