Wine-Centric Restaurant Chain Cooper's Hawk Planned a 2022 Listing at a $1 Billion Target Valuation

This is an English adaptation of a FoodBud historical article originally published on January 22, 2022.

Bloomberg reported that Cooper's Hawk, a wine-focused restaurant and bar chain, was planning to go public in 2022 with a target market value of $1 billion.

Scale and Ownership

Cooper's Hawk was sold to Ares Management in 2019 for more than $700 million, with people familiar with the matter saying the transaction was close to $800 million.

In 2018, Cooper's Hawk generated $280 million in system sales and operated 35 locations. According to the company's website at the time, annual revenue had reached $340 million. The chain had 47 locations at the end of 2020, opened four new locations in 2021, and planned to open eight more in 2022.

In 2021, CEO Tim McEnery also said Cooper's Hawk would launch a new pizza chain brand.

Wine Club as a Growth Engine

Cooper's Hawk's wine club had been growing at 25% annually and had reached 540,000 members.

The model lowered the barrier to wine discovery for mainstream consumers while borrowing from membership-benefit mechanics seen in brands such as Starbucks. Members paid $20 or $38 per month to receive one or two bottles of the month's selected wine. By comparison, the Napa Valley Reserve private wine club charged a $100,000 initiation fee.

Cooper's Hawk also offered members wine-trip experiences, led by Tim McEnery, with 10-day itineraries mainly covering Spain, Italy, and France.

The company had also used cross-marketing with Ruth's Chris Steak House: Cooper's Hawk wine club members could bring Cooper's Hawk wine to Ruth's Chris Steak House without paying corkage fees and could earn Cooper's Hawk club points.

Operating Leadership

In 2021, Cooper's Hawk hired Beth Scott as chief restaurant officer. Scott had previously served as president of Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, overseeing 65 locations with annual revenue of $300 million. Earlier in her career, she managed food and beverage operations at Disney Parks and Resorts.

Founder Background

Cooper's Hawk was founded in 2005 by Tim McEnery. He began working in restaurants at age 11, starting as a dishwasher, and was promoted to restaurant supervisor while still in high school. After graduating from Purdue University's hospitality and restaurant management program, he studied winemaking. At age 21, he became general manager of Green Gardens, a country club in Chicago.

In 2003, McEnery visited the well-known Lynfred Winery, which sparked the idea of pairing wine and food in a more accessible restaurant format. While working full time, he visited startup advisory organizations and potential investors after work. He ultimately secured a $1 million loan and raised another $300,000 from friends and family to open the first Cooper's Hawk location in his hometown of Chicago.

Restaurant Format and Menu Logic

Each Cooper's Hawk location combined a full-service restaurant with a tasting room. The restaurant menu had more than 100 SKUs, with a focus on seasonal ingredients and wine pairings for each dish.

Cooper's Hawk organized its menu and wine list around a "20/60/20" structure: 20% more adventurous upscale dishes, 20% simpler items such as meatball pasta and sandwiches, and the remaining 60% signature dishes only available at Cooper's Hawk. The range covered seafood, short ribs, American burgers, and fries, giving the chain options for business meals, family occasions, and casual shoppers.

Note: IPO, valuation, store-opening, and forward-looking figures are historical and reflect the source article's January 2022 context.