Jessica Strange
Bubble Bus Co.
Lina and Clay Sexauer serve ice cold beer from the back of their restored 1978 VW Type 2 bus to thirsty neighbors in Live Oak Creek.
Last October, Clay and Lina Sexauer started their own small business, Bubble Bus Co., a mobile tap bar that serves a variety of cold, tasty beverages and popsicles from the back of a fully restored, gold 1978 Volkswagen Type 2 bus. They planned to work social events around town, but with the onset of COVID-19 restrictions just months after setting up shop, the couple had to rethink their approach.
“COVID changed everything for us,” Clay says. “We were sitting on the front porch thinking, like, what can we do?”
Clay and Lina decided that they wanted to use Bubble Bus Co. to raise the spirits of their neighbors in Sunset Heights.
“I thought, ‘I'm going to go buy three kegs of beer and give it away to my neighbors for free,’” Clay says.
So Clay and Lina loaded up their vintage bus with a few kegs of local brews and drove around their ‘hood, ice cream truck-style, handing out drinks and popsicles to folks stuck at home. Free beer from an Instagram-worthy bus was, unsurprisingly, a huge hit and drew lots of social media buzz. The Sexauers made enough money in tips to spur a pay-it-forward initiative, funding Bubble Bus Co. trips to other neighborhoods around town.
“It sparked this whole chain of generosity,” Clay says. “People all chipping in to help each other out just to bring something into neighborhoods that brings people together.”
Word caught on quickly about Bubble Bus Co.’s mobile quarantine happy hours. The Sexauers decided to use contests on Facebook and Instagram to pick their next routes. Neighborhoods with the most comments and shares won a night of free drinks, a refreshing treat to break up the monotony of quarantine.
“When we pull into a neighborhood you see kids jumping because they know popsicles are coming but the adults have the same energy — because beer,” Clay jokes.
Lina said their new business model has taught her a couple things: that people are proud of their communities and that a little generosity goes a long way.
“It’s connecting people through kindness,” she says.
Jessica Strange
Bubble Bus Co.
Left to right: Bert the German Pointer, Buffy Hinson, Shounda Miller, Shawna Marusak, and Ashlyn Bruce enjoy Prosecco and popsicles from Bubble Bus Co. Bert even got a new handmade collar.
Shounda Miller and Shawna Marusak enjoyed Bubble Bus Co.’s cold beverages when their neighborhood, Live Oak Creek, won an evening of free drinks Tuesday night.
“When everyone’s quarantining, you need an outlet, right? So this is great,” Miller says.
Marusak found the Bubble Bus Co.’s pay-it-forward initiative encouraging.
“I love what they’re doing,” she says. “I think it’s fantastic. I love the idea of us being able to pay it forward and have other communities get the same kind of fun out of it.”
Jessica Strange
Bubble Bus Co.
Bubble Bus Co also offers handmade items and merchandise for sale. Lina Sexauer worked as a vendor selling handmade goods at events before the COVID-19 pandemic. With most events canceled for the foreseeable future, Lina looked for other avenues to sell her goods.
Clay and Lina plan to keep up mobile happy hours even after more quarantine restrictions are lifted. They hope to expand their business to a mobile market of sorts, selling merch and handmade goods like hats and dog collars inside the bus.
While bars and retail stores open back up, Lina says Bubble Bus Co. will continue their new-found mission: “Connecting communities one beer and popsicle at a time.”
