Owners of Scotch & Soda, A Beautiful Mess to open Golden Girl Rum Club downtown

Springfield-based lifestyle blog A Beautiful Mess and upscale bar Scotch & Soda are joining to open a new rum club on the west side of Park Central Square by the end of the year. It will be called the Golden Girl Rum Club.

Wait, what's a rum club?

"The concept is kind of derived from the 1920s and '30s southern Havana style," said Joshua Widner, who is co-owner of Scotch & Soda. "At the same time, it pays homage to these guys who opened up tiki joints in Southern California. But we're not calling ourselves a tiki bar, we're calling ourselves a rum club."

Widner said the club will be open Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m., with rum drinks as the centerpiece. Rum-centric. Rum-focused. A large portfolio of rum. And other kinds of drinks.

The Golden Girl brand name refers to pineapples, often paired with rum. The fruit is also an international symbol of hospitality, Widner said. The rum club will serve lunch and dinner menus consisting of shareable small plates — nothing fried, everything fresh.

Widner said he also expects to sell beverages made with Cuban rum if Cuban products become legal for sale in the United States. Many observers regard this as a possibility since the Obama administration and a bipartisan group of U.S. senators have recently moved to thaw diplomatic and trade relations with Cuba after a 50-year freeze, USA TODAY reported earlier this year.

The team of owners includes blogger Emma Chapman, her husband, Trey George, business development manager for A Beautiful Mess, along with Widner and his brother-slash-Scotch & Soda employee Rogan Howitt.

The current occupant of the space at 137 Park Central Square, gift shop Retro Nouveau, will move out when its lease ends Sept. 1. A team of four business partners purchased the building on the west side of the square June 5 from real estate developer Sam Freeman for an undisclosed sum, Widner said.

Other planned features include a design with natural light from existing windows in the space, adding a glass garage door to the storefront to allow for an indoor/outdoor seating area on the square, white wood, white paint and gold accents. The bar top is a 24-foot piece of solid oak butcher block made by Widner's grandfather, Gordon Bond.

Chapman said she and her husband have known Widner for four years, having met when he was frequently their server at the MudLounge. She said she was eager to start a local business venture beyond the blog she co-authors with photographer and lifestyle expert Elsie Larson, which garners 1.4 million unique visitors per month.

"We've been bugging Josh about doing something, mostly when I've had a drink at Scotch & Soda," she said.

"I love food, and I do a lot of cooking on my website," Chapman said. "(The Golden Girl Rum Club) is going to be its own thing outside of A Beautiful Mess and the other work I do."