What the Buzz Is About: How Innovative Paint and Sip Franchise Wine & Design’s Top-Shelf Offering Lets Visitors Paint Outside the Lines

In recent years, the paint and sip industry has grown significantly. If you’re a millennial or just a lover of a creative night out, chances are you’ve heard of the concept: Guests enjoy a glass of wine while flexing their artistic muscles on canvas, all in the context of a guided class setting. Visitors receive canvases, paint and brushes to use in class—plus the all-important vintage—for two hours of unwind-and-design fun.  

At least, that’s what other brands do. But paint and sip franchise Wine & Design thinks (and drinks) outside the box.

Since the brand’s 2011 origin in North Carolina—and introduction to franchising shortly thereafter—founder and masterpiece-minded entrepreneur Harriet Mills has grown the business to over 80 locations in 19 states and further developed the concept to include five branded divisions:

• On Wheels, a program of off-site painting classes;
• D.I.Y., or Design It Yourself, which offers classes for any medium beyond canvas such as wood projects or the popular chunky blanket;
• Art Buzz Kids, a kids program rich with colorful summer and teacher workday camps, morning classes, birthday parties and after-school programs;
• Paint it Forward, a philanthropic division where local studios partner with nonprofit organizations to host fundraisers;
• Team Building, which features classes designed to build connection among co-workers.  

This diverse variety of offerings means that the modern-chic brand offers just as much artful allure to professionals, millennials and event planners as parents, kids and philanthropists. Some popular activities centered around visits to a Wine & Design studio include baby showers; bachelorette parties; birthday parties; co-worker team-building; group classes and more. Thanks to its all-colors offering, Wine & Design also lends itself perfectly to the celebration of local community events—the brand’s Howell, New Jersey location heralded LGBTQ+ Pride month last summer with vibrant canvases crafted in the studio.

Wine & Design’s innovative approach to a buzzworthy two-hour class doesn’t end there. Other studios stagnate with one-size-fits-all projects, but Wine & Design allows its franchise owners to submit paintings to the studio’s library of over 6,000 class-ready canvases so they can localize in their market and bring consumers the creative outlet they crave. Finally, in contrast to the competition, Wine & Design employs local artists to serve as art instructors rather than corporate-sourced teachers.

And the strength of this best-in-show offering has major players noticing. Wine & Design has enjoyed impressive growth all thanks to organic marketing, riding the wave all the way to an appearance on Shark Tank in 2017. Their colorful presentation (nude model included) brought out offers from sharks Robert Herjavec and Kevin O’Leary, the latter of which was selected by Mills and remains a brand partner today.

Julie Green, Director of Marketing for Wine & Design, said that she continues to be amazed by the organic buzz around the studio.

“What astounds me is that this brand has seen amazing growth based solely on the brand, without any major marketing done to get this business opportunity into markets,” Green said. “To me, that shows what a great concept this is. The excitement around Wine & Design is a testament to the concept and to the team. We’re continuing to grow steadily and organically, even a few years after being featured on Shark Tank.”

Green isn’t overstating the case: The brand’s 80-plus franchise locations have grown as a direct result of Wine & Design’s passionate, wine-loving fandom.

We’ll drink to that.