Dragon Mixology Bar: a mall bar, from fit-out to reports.
A mixology bar for tea and fruit drinks in the Salaris shopping mall, Moscow. We covered the whole journey: fit-out plans and mall approval, the menu and print, the team, the till and delivery, management reports. The bar opened in February 2022 and ran until 2025, when it was sold as a going concern.
- Status
- A real franchise business · 2021–2025
- Studio role
- Launch and management, end to end: fit-out, budgets, menu and print, team, till, reports
- Format
- Drinks and Asian desserts bar by the food court
- Timeline
- 2021 — preparation and build · February 2022 — opening · 2025 — sale
The brief.
Open a franchise bar in a shopping mall and make it a profitable unit. The franchise brings the brand, recipes and standards — everything tied to the actual site is down to the operator: the unit and its engineering to the mall's requirements, equipment and budgets, a menu for its own screens, materials that bring guests over from the food court, a team, and accounts that show what sells and what makes money.
What we did, by area.
Strategy and launch
- Business plan and budgets: equipment, furniture, signage, electrics, plumbing, décor — before the first purchase.
- A launch schedule: premises, purchasing, staff, marketing, opening.
- Preparing for the sale: monthly financials and an asset register — a pack for the buyer.
The space
- A brief for the fit-out drawings and approval with the mall's management company: layout, electrics, water and drainage, lighting, finishes, signage — 34 sheets.
- Renderings of the unit — 15 sheets: counter, seating, signage, menu board.
Menu and print
- A three-screen menu board and a large 3000×700 horizontal menu: colour-coded categories, a photo of every drink, price and size on one tag.
- Seasonal versions: spring and autumn 2022, with hot drinks marked HOT.
- A5 materials for single products: milkshakes, fresh juice.
- A6 flyers for different situations: an introduction with a "find us" map, a discount coupon, a student offer; plus promoter clothing and stickers.
- Updates along the way: images that shouldn't be shown to guests were removed from the menu and print.
Mall channels
- A tenant card for the mall website: description, cover, preview, logo.
- A kit for the mall's digital kiosk: description, logos, a hero image and a 10-image gallery.
Team and services
- Staff training, service standards and job descriptions.
- An iiko till, delivery via Yandex Eats and Delivery Club.
Power BI reports
- A full sales export from iiko → an owner dashboard: revenue by month and weekday with a date filter, payment methods, discounts, delivery and its income; sales by item and category, a top 3, the margin on every drink, and candidates to drop from the menu.
The results in figures.
- 3 years
- the bar traded from February 2022 to 2025 and was sold as a going concern
- ≈ ₽10m
- revenue in 2024
- +15%
- revenue in 2024 vs 2023
- ₽1m
- revenue in the best month — June 2024
- 34 sheets
- fit-out drawings to the mall's requirements
- 3 screens
- menu board above the counter
What the figures show. That the bar traded and grew as a business — revenue from the bar's own monthly accounts. We don't credit design alone with the revenue growth.
Every decision starts with how it will be used.
Each piece was made for its place and its reader. The screen menu is for a guest choosing on the spot, standing in a queue: category colour, photo, price. The flyer is for someone who hasn't reached the counter yet: what this bar is and where it is. The mall kit follows the venue's requirements. The report is for the owner: what sells, what earns, and what to take off the menu.
What's next.
The same path for a café, a mall unit or a service business: from budgets and the menu to the till and reports. You can start with one task — a screen menu, flyers or a sales report — and add the rest as you go.
