In early 2002, a new chapter in the AZeats story began.
ColoradoEats.com was born.
AZeats was now about three years old and entering its growth period. The difficult work of proving that a restaurant-focused website could actually provide value had already been done in Phoenix. ColoradoEats would not have to start from scratch.
The idea for ColoradoEats came from Warren, in 2001, Warren was completing a dual graduate program at Arizona State University, earning an MBA and a master's degree in accounting and information systems. It was during his time at ASU that he was introduced to AZeats. After graduating, Warren returned to his home state of Colorado and contacted AZeats about bringing the concept to Colorado.
It was a natural next step: take something that was already working and replicate it in another market.
Warren Brings the Idea Home
Warren wasn't simply looking for a job or proposing another restaurant directory. He had seen AZeats up close and understood what was being built.
He knew the concept worked.
Colorado was Warren's home, and he saw an opportunity to bring the AZeats model to restaurants there. The initial ColoradoEats website was established, and Warren and Robert spent many hours on training calls, working through how the site and the business model operated.
Then came the most important part: selling it.
Warren began setting up appointments with Colorado restaurateurs. Once he had the meetings arranged, Robert flew to Colorado and spent several days attending those initial meetings with Warren.
This was the beginning of ColoradoEats' entry into the Colorado restaurant market.
The Sales Pitch Was Different This Time
When AZeats first started in Phoenix, Robert had to explain something that was still largely theoretical to restaurant owners.
The Internet was new.
Restaurants were just beginning to understand what a website might mean for their business. There were few examples to point to and little history to demonstrate that an investment in a restaurant website could actually produce results.
By 2002, that had changed.
Robert wasn't traveling to Colorado to educate restaurateurs about the future of the Internet.
He could show them the present.
He had actual AZeats restaurant websites to demonstrate. He had sales information, traffic information, media coverage and other evidence from the Phoenix operation. He could show Colorado restaurateurs what AZeats was already doing for restaurants in another market.
The message was simple:
We're doing this in Phoenix. It's working. Now we're here to do the same thing in Colorado.
That made the sales process considerably easier.
AZeats had spent its first three years proving the idea.
ColoradoEats could begin by proving that the idea already worked.
Bill and Robert Replicate What Was Working
ColoradoEats wasn't envisioned as a completely separate company or a new business model. It was another website in the growing collection of sites that we developed and maintained.
The goal was to replicate what was already working.
Warren initiated the Colorado opportunity and opened the doors. Robert brought the sales experience and the proven AZeats presentation. Bill and Robert then worked to replicate the technology, systems and ideas that had already been developed through AZeats.
ColoradoEats initially divided the Colorado market into two major areas: Denver and Colorado Springs. The site was initially hosted and maintained through az-guide.com/coeats/default.htm while the new market was being developed.
The Internet Archive provides an important timestamp for the beginning of that process.
The domain ColoradoEats.com was registered February 21, 2002, and the first known Wayback Machine capture of live ColoradoEats content was September 21, 2002. The archived homepage even acknowledged that the site was new to the market and still building its restaurant content, while directing visitors to AZeats.com to see the concept operating in the more established Phoenix market.
That September 2002 page captures ColoradoEats at the very beginning of its journey.
Building the Colorado Restaurant Network
The strategy was familiar from AZeats: build individual restaurant websites while simultaneously creating a larger restaurant destination.
As ColoradoEats grew, the network expanded beyond Denver and Colorado Springs.
A surviving partial client list includes restaurants in Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, Castle Rock, Manitou Springs, Lakewood, Englewood, Aspen, Lafayette, Fort Collins, Palmer Lake and Central City. Among the restaurants represented were 1515 Restaurant, 3 Margaritas, Briarhurst Manor, The Broker, Campo de Fiori, Craftwood Inn, The Fresh Fish Co., Hotel Boulderado, Jake and Telly's Greek Cuisine, Kevin Taylor's at the Opera House, The Margarita at Pine Creek, Paragon Culinary School, Prime Steakhouse, Restaurant Kevin Taylor, Soup at the Teller House and Zaida's.
ColoradoEats was becoming more than a collection of restaurant websites.
It was becoming a Colorado dining network.
More Than a Restaurant Directory
The mature ColoradoEats website demonstrates just how much of the AZeats concept had been replicated.
Restaurants could be found by cuisine—American, Asian, Contemporary, Fine Dining, Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Moroccan, Seafood and Steakhouse—or by location, including Colorado Springs, Castle Rock, Denver Downtown and the various Denver metro areas.
The site also categorized restaurants by things such as Banquets & Catering, Entertainment, Wine Specialists and Kid Friendly.
But the navigation reveals even more:
Restaurants | Gift Certificates | Coupons | Guest Book | Tell a Friend
and
Home | Corporate Incentives | Add-a-Restaurant | Privacy Statement | Contact Us
ColoradoEats had evolved into a full local dining portal, combining restaurant information with marketing and commerce.
Restaurant Gift Certificates Become E-Commerce
One of the clearest examples of the technology being replicated and expanded was the online gift-certificate system.
A May 2006 ColoradoEats page shows a functioning online shopping cart containing dozens of restaurant gift certificates. Customers could select a restaurant, choose a quantity, add certificates to a shopping cart and pay online.
The page displayed retail values alongside discounted ColoradoEats prices. Some certificates were marked SOLD OUT.
The system included credit-card processing, SSL security information, satisfaction guarantees and privacy policies.
ColoradoEats wasn't simply telling people where to eat.
It was selling restaurant gift certificates online.
This was another part of the AZeats model that had moved from an idea into a functioning e-commerce operation.
Dine-Mail Comes to Colorado
The marketing model expanded as well.
ColoradoEats published a regular email newsletter called NewsBytes.
A January 16, 2007 issue was numbered Issue 1.181, suggesting a long-running newsletter operation. It promoted discounted gift certificates, restaurant events, Valentine's Day dining, restaurant specials and electronic gift certificates.
The newsletter also provided links to purchase gift certificates, recommend ColoradoEats to a friend, provide feedback and unsubscribe.
By 2008, the newsletter was positioning ColoradoEats as “A Guide to Colorado Springs Restaurants,” while continuing to promote restaurant specials, coupons, events and gift certificates.
The newsletter became another way of doing what AZeats had already learned to do:
Put restaurant information and restaurant offers directly in front of local diners.
A Proven Model, Replicated
The story of ColoradoEats is therefore not really about creating another restaurant website.
It is about taking a proven Internet business model and replicating it geographically.
Warren saw the opportunity and initiated the Colorado expansion.
Robert brought the sales experience, the AZeats story and three years of proof that the concept worked.
Bill and Robert replicated the technology, systems and ideas that AZeats had developed.
And Warren took that model into his home state and began opening doors with Colorado restaurateurs.
The timing was important. AZeats had already passed through the experimental stage. The team no longer had to tell restaurant owners what might happen if they established an Internet presence.
ColoradoEats wasn't an experiment. It was the next market.
From Phoenix to Colorado
Looking back, ColoradoEats represents an important stage in the evolution of AZeats.
The Phoenix operation had been the laboratory. It was where the concept was developed, tested, refined and proven.
Colorado became the opportunity to take everything that had been learned and put it into another market.
The result was a Colorado dining network that grew from a new website in 2002 into a much more sophisticated operation—restaurant websites, restaurant listings, coupons, gift certificates, online shopping, email marketing, promotions and local dining information.
And it all began with one former ASU student who had seen what AZeats was doing, returned home to Colorado and asked a simple question:
Why couldn't we do this in Colorado?
Warren opened the door.
Robert brought the proven AZeats model.
Bill and Robert replicated what was already working.
And ColoradoEats was born.
ColoradoEats.com Timeline
February 21, 2002 — ColoradoEats.com domain registered.
Early 2002 — Warren initiates the Colorado expansion after his experience with AZeats at ASU.
2002 — Initial ColoradoEats site established; Warren and Robert conduct extensive training calls.
2002 — Warren begins arranging meetings with Colorado restaurateurs; Robert travels to Colorado to participate in the initial sales meetings.
September 21, 2002 — First known Internet Archive capture of ColoradoEats.
2002 onward — Denver and Colorado Springs developed as separate Colorado markets.
— ColoradoEats develops a substantial restaurant network.
— Online restaurant gift certificates, shopping cart, credit-card processing and SSL are operating.
— ColoradoEats NewsByes newsletter promoting Colorado restaurants, coupons, events and gift certificates.
— ColoradoEats restaurant pages continue appearing in Colorado media and restaurant references.
ColoradoEats was not a new idea. It was a proven idea entering a new market.
