Cheers to the next generation of seniors

Baby Boomers are shaking up senior living facilities by bringing their social-drinking habits with them.

For years, senior-living operators have been offering alcohol with meals to recreate a fine-dining atmosphere. Now they’re going further, adding full-service lounges and pubs to satisfy an incoming generation whose idea of a good time goes beyond a glass of Franzia with their chicken francese. 

About two years ago, residents of Morningside of Fullerton, in Fullerton, Calif., began approaching managing partner Justin Wilson about expanding the facility’s casual-dining concept, which sports a full bar. At the time, the space would fill up by 4:45 p.m. and stay packed through the evening. Seeing the demand, Morningside expanded the facility’s bar and added a separate wine bar as part of a $2 million, seven-month renovation. 

“This community is 27 years old— the residents coming in are a little different than the residents that have been here for 10 or 15 years,” Wilson says. “That will continue in the future. As each generation comes in, they are going to have different wants and desires.”

Avanti Senior Living Towne Lake, in Cypress, Texas, pivoted to the expectations of their changing demographic with the Savor Lounge in the Towne Lake location. The lounge has the aesthetic of a trendy steakhouse and offers a daily happy hour at 4 p.m.

Lori Alford, Avanti Senior Living’s chief operating officer, says there’s clearly a shift from multipurpose dining rooms to designated bar and lounges, and that’s all because of the Baby Boomer lifestyle.

“We are transitioning from serving the Depression generation and are now serving this post-war generation, and the post-war generation were partiers,” Alford says.

Quail Park of Lynnwood, Wash., which opened in December, designed a pub concept that offers beer, wine and appetizers such as poutine. Residents of the assisted living facility get two free drinks a day. When the NFL’s Seahawks play, residents congregate in the pub to cheer on their local team.

Listening to senior demand and upping the alcohol ante in senior living facilities has widespread benefits, Alford says. For starters, swanky lounges and sporty pubs help bust the prison association of senior-living facilities—a stigma Alford says Avanti is determined to remove.

Staying competitive in the senior-living market also means prioritizing amenities and providing care in a discrete manner. Alford says designing trendy venues with ample bar taps and lengthy wine lists helps to attract customers and interest their families.

“It allows for all the different generations to want to be in the building,” Alford says. “And normally when that happens, that senior is happy because their family is happy, and when that senior is happy that daughter or son is happy, and it’s just a winning situation for everyone.”

Striving for greater resident satisfaction doesn’t have to bust a renovation budget or otherwise overtax resources. Quail Park and Morningside have beer and wine licenses, which are typically less expensive and easier to obtain than a full liquor permit. Quail Park residents took a vote and decided they did not need one, says Executive Chef Konrad Winder.

At Morningside, management promoted existing staff to bar captains; no additional training is needed to pour wine and beer.

Shawn Noack, Morningside’s food and beverage manager, says wine sales have increased since the facility set aside a space specifically for wine to be enjoyed.

“The captured sales have basically doubled, and we have been able to increase our supplies because we have greater holding capacities and better displays back there,” says Noack. “We probably have about 20 different bottles of wine.”

Alcohol and senior living may seem like a dangerous cocktail, but Noack and Alford say the risks are easily managed. Morningside is an independent living facility, so seniors manage their medications with the help of Resident Services.

Plus, Noack says, most residents don’t abuse the alcohol, and he has only needed to intervene a few times in his six years at the facility. Alcoholic beverages were replaced with apple cider or nonalcoholic beer. And with almost 70 percent of assisted living residents already consuming alcohol, according to a 2012 study from the University of Pittsburgh, operators like Noack can better control the flow of liquor in public spaces.

Avanti relies on a specialized POS system to manage residents’ alcohol intake.

“Anytime that we go to pour them a glass of wine or a beer, they can pull up the resident’s name and they can see what their limitations are and place the order,” Alford says. “Everything is in real time, so we know what’s going on with that resident.”

Senior-living operators express no doubts that pubs and lounges will continue to replace activity rooms as the places for residents to gather and socialize. Finicky Baby Boomers won’t have it any other way, they note.

“The people we are serving have different expectations, and we as operators need to adjust our model and our programming to serve that generation coming in and meet those expectations,” Alford says.