Hospo Threads website launches to help struggling bars sell online

Before she started infusing liqueurs in her laneway bar off Sydney's George Street, Burrow Bar co-owner Chau Tran had a corporate life that has come in useful over the past month.

"I worked for a marketing technology company. I have a lot more fun at the bar if I'm honest, but I picked up some useful skills," she tells Good Food.

With bars among the hardest-hit businesses in the COVID-19 shutdown, Tran turned her attention to creating an online store for Burrow Bar.

"I pretty quickly realised most [bar operators] don't have those skills," she says. "I didn't want to watch the industry I love drown." So Tran launched Hospo Threads, a non-profit marketplace where bars can launch online stores selling products such as pickles, home-delivered cocktails, vouchers and merchandise.

"I've been able to walk them through setting up e-commerce to Paypal. They don't even have to pay a subscription fee," she says.

Everyone from PS40 bar and Ramblin' Rascal to the newly opened Fortunate Son in Enmore has jumped on board, with more on the way.

"People have been happy to throw some money over the fence to help these bars out, maybe by buying a T-shirt," Tran says. "When I used to work in [technology], I felt I was helping the rich get richer. This has made me interested in it again because I'm helping the industry I love."

Details: hospothreads.com