July: A Closer Look
This month, we take a look at three of Columbia’s businesses – The Brew Brothers, Fluffybutt Cookies, and Veeper.
The Brew Brothers
A staple in the Mid-Missouri community for nearly 20 years, Isle of Capri is adding a new restaurant to their casino in Boonville: The Brew Brothers. Heather Rapp, president of Isle of Capri Boonville, says the casino and hotel will be opening the new restaurant later this summer.
“We wanted to provide a new dining experience for our customers as well as an additional dining option for the community of Boonville. We are regularly looking at ways to change our business to ensure we are staying up to date on the latest trends,” Heather explains. The casino decided to close the doors of the Farmer’s Pick Buffet in December 2019 and renovated it to be the new home for The Brew Brothers.
The menu for the new restaurant will offer a wide variety of options, from a collection of salads to burgers, as well as a curated selection of beer. And, of course, customers are only a few steps away from the casino.
[email protected]
660-882-1200
100 Isle of Capri Blvd., Boonville, MO
Fluffybutt Cookies
Tammy Carter grew up in the food industry. In 2011, she started baking and decorating cookies from her home, but it wasn’t until 2018 that she finally got to open a bakery, Fluffybutt Cookies. “I’ve always wanted to have my own business,” Tammy explains. “I got to the point where it could happen, so I took a leap of faith and did it.”
Named after her cats with “fluffy butts,” the bakery will help bring Tammy’s longtime passion to more people. She says some people advised her to stay away from the unique name, but she feels it’s been one of the greatest decisions she’s made as a small business owner, driving more people into her bakery out of curiosity. At Fluffybutt Cookies, the cookies in the front case are always changing, and when the team has downtime, they can be found experimenting and making new things.
Customers can order customized cookies for any occasion, “If we don’t have the cookie-cutter — and I have close to 1,200 cookie cutters — then we can work around it. If we can find it on the internet, then we can do almost whatever you want,” Tammy explains.
[email protected]
573-881-0902
2101 W. Broadway, Ste. 206
Veeper
After founding the business in January, a local startup will be bringing a new app to smartphones this August. Jordan Williams and his co-founders, Than Som, Tim Green, and Jim Neimann, were looking to help small businesses with their reopening after the pandemic and increase their customer loyalty and retention.
“Veeper is a mobile app loyalty wallet and promo marketplace that tracks a customer’s purchases and creates loyalty programs specific to a business for free,” Jordan explains. “The more a user has spent with a particular business, the higher their incremental discount becomes on each return within a cycle.”
The app will also help to decrease the spread of germs through its in-app payment methods — a beneficial feature to have amid a pandemic. The ultimate mission for Veeper is to help increase each business’s number of patrons.
Jordan and his co-founders have been looking to sign up local businesses before mid-August so the app can be utilized by returning college students.
www.veeperapp.com
573-825-7751
[email protected]