I talked with Philip and Dave, two of the creators of the new local app Loople Mobile.

 

Q: Where are you guys from?

Philip: We’re both originally from right outside of Philadelphia. We both went to college together. After college, we both moved around the East Coast a lot. I’ve been down here for a few years, but Dave just moved down here to help us market it. I didn’t know what to expect when I moved down here. It’s a fun city. Tons of stuff to do.  Not that expensive, or over done.

 

Q: What is Loople?

Dave:  Loople is a way to simplify ones social life. It’s a GPS based bar and restaurant special app. It lets the user go out and see what the city has to offer. At the same time, it gives the bar a chance to promote their specials and what not. We see it as a positive on both ends.

Philip: When I worked in the bar industry, you would see all these amazing specials being offered. People would ask them what the specials are, and the bars were sort of ‘down selling’ the specials, instead of people coming in actively searching for what they wanted. The reason we came up with this app is to make this easier for both sides. In the app, you can search for what you’d like. For example: a specialty cocktail. You can even get specialty craft beers in the filters.

Dave: The app is completely free..it’s just a matter of getting it out there. Everything is updated each day.

 

Q: How did you come up with the name?

Philip: ::laughs:: That was an interesting discussion. You have so many tech companies out there, so you have to be unique. We wanted to keep people in the loop with what’s around them. We also wanted it to be something that they can remember. We think of it as the search engine for your social life.

 

Q: What neighborhoods do you currently cover?

Philip: In the system right now, all of Canton, Harbor East, Federal Hill, the Inner Harbor, Powerplant Live area, Locust Point,  Mt. Vernon up through Towson (York Rd/I-83 route). Just that is too much for us to handle.

That’s..a LOT of bars..

Philip: God forbid this doesn’t work out, and I’ve saved tons of money  because I use this so damn much. ::laughs:: My girlfriend will come home and say “Look, I’m beat, I need a glass of wine.” Perfect! I like to sit outside, so filter ‘wine’ and ‘outside seating’, and all the places come up.

 

Q: What has been the response?

Philip: As of last week, we have over 3,000 downloads. Awesome! We haven’t put a buck into marketing. Just T-shirts we wear as fliers. ::laughs:: Dave and I were just talking about this earlier. We’ll go to a bar for a promo, and a group of people will walk in. They think we’re trying to sell them something. There will be one person in that group that say “Oh that’s that bar special app!” and start selling it for us.

So you can just sit back and relax?

Philip: Sort of! ::laughs:: We need to recreate that as much as possible.

 

Q: What is the long term goal?

Philip: I’ve always been interesting and passionate in owning my own business. Ironically, someone in Miami found the app and gave us a 1 star review..but that’s because they’re not in Baltimore! We have one 4 star review, and all the others are 5 stars..that’s insane!

Dave: Our generation is so used to being advertised to..we think this is more targeted advertising. If you’re already looking for specials, just use this app!

 

Q: What are your favorite bars in the area?

Philip: My list is very very very long..::laughs:: If I just wanted a beer, I would go to Mahaffey’s. The culture is great there. I love Boathouse as well. The reviews are incredible. Fells is my baby. I love The Point. They do phenomenal food.

Dave: Dogwatch is always great. Tons of games going on, great drinks specials. Looney’s is great. They have a GREAT power hour deal. They’ll do a $2 beer and a $2 shot. Not many people know about that!

 

Visit Loople’s Official Website

Download the App for iPhone and Android

Follow Loople on Twitter

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