Cleveland, traditionally known as a “rock city,” is being filled with the sounds of new tunes – jazz, blues, Americana and roots to name a few – with the opening of The Music Box Supper Club. The restaurant-style concert venue, opened by husband and wife duo Mike and Colleen Miller, fills the niche between the large arenas and standing room-only clubs in the area.
“There’s an audience for an array of genres that have been absent from the local entertainment scene, and the Music Box gives them what they were missing,” said Mike Miller, vice president of the Music Box. “It’s a modern version of the old-fashioned supper clubs that were popular in the 1930s.”
With Colleen Miller’s skill for launching new concert venues and Mike’s entrepreneurial spirit, the Music Box is poised to be a success. But developing a unique venue and curating great music weren’t the only things on Mike and Colleen’s agenda prior to their big opening – they needed to find a ticketing solution that could help them get customers in the door.
Taking a page out of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ playbook
The Millers knew they wanted a local, forward-thinking ticketing partner with demonstrated success. They realized that there was a lot of crossover between their target audience and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season ticket-holders, who are sophisticated and eager to adopt the most innovative technology, evidenced by their strong utilization of digital ticketing. Therefore, it was a no-brainer to leverage the same ticketing platform as the Cavs.
“By partnering with AXS and using its Flash Seats® ID-based digital ticketing, we knew that we’d have built in audience with the Cavs,” said Miller. “We may be a small venue but, like the Cavs’ organization, we’re eager to grow and achieve record success.”
Serving up immediate results
From the start, the Music Box has been delivering a state-of-the-art customer experience, even with the purchase of a ticket. To date, the venue has sold more than 12,000 tickets, and 71 percent of those have been redeemed through Flash Seats. While some customers still pick up tickets at will-call, many are purchasing tickets online pre-show, enabling the Music Box staff to get customers into the venue quickly and efficiently.
“Unlike other restaurants, we have hundreds of people arriving at the exact same time for both dinner and a show,” said Miller. “Our staff has to be extremely efficient, and giving customers the ability to purchase tickets online and enter with a simple swipe of their ID through Flash Seats is great.”
Flash Seats is also helping the Music Box in another key area – revenue generation.
“We don’t generate revenue through ticket purchases – 80-90% of ticket sales go directly to the artist. We bring in revenue by getting people in the door – buying our food, beverages and merchandise,” said Miller. “With Flash Seats, our customers can sell or transfer their tickets if they can’t make a show, dramatically reducing our no-show rate,” said Miller.
The Music Box is less than one year old, but the Millers are seeing significant results due to the brand value they’re building with customers.
“Music lifts the human spirit and we want to give our customers an experience that leaves them wanting more,” said Miller. “We brought back an old-fashioned venue concept, but we’re modernizing it with innovative systems and technology that strengthen our relationship with fans. We’re excited about what the future holds.”