From rusty trailer to sparking mocktail bar

PLEASANT GARDEN — What do you do with an old rusted-out horse trailer that’s seen its best days? You turn it into a mobile mocktail bar, of course.

Amy Pierce and her event planning partners, Barbara Miller and Valerie Victorino, were considering how to start a mocktail bar to add to their special occasions. Her husband, Gary, suggested that an old horse trailer would be perfect.

“We bought it last October,” Amy said. “It was in horrible condition, just a shell, rusty and unused for a long time. But we got it for a good deal.”

Fortunately, Gary has handyman skills and tested them to the limit. “We had to get the rust out, panels in and do body work,” he said. “We painted it, wired it, put in tanks and freshwater, two refrigerators, new tires and wired it for a battery pack.

“We piece-mealed it together. Just about everything was redone. It had been used for a goat trailer. It was usable but just barely.”

With their new, old horse trailer now converted into a mocktail bar, Cooper & Co. Mobile Mocktails and More was launched in January.

The first customer was Cone Health, which wanted to celebrate Nurses Week by sending the Mocktail Bar around to its 11 campuses in the Piedmont Triad.

“We’ve also done weddings, multiple corporate events, the SPCA in Charlotte and at Asheboro’s Minkology during the Fall Festival,” Amy said.

She said they’ve also taken the Mobile Mocktails to Alamance Community College, New Market Elementary School’s fall festival and a women’s church retreat.

Amy said the name Cooper & Co. honors her late Yorkie dog that died at the age of 15 and a half years old. In fact, the Mobile Mocktails drinks are named after dogs.

Jack, a rescued Australian silky terrier, is the latest Pierce dog, joining a couple of others. It’s no coincidence that dogs are featured in the nomenclature of the Mocktail Bar.

“We try to give a portion of the profits to an animal shelter,” Amy said, adding that the customer can choose which shelter to donate to.

Upcoming events for Cooper & Co. Mobile Mocktails include another visit to Minkology on Nov. 14, the Candlelight Christmas in Randleman on Nov. 16 and the SPCA of the Triad in Greensboro on Nov. 30.

Special holiday drinks during the Thanksgiving/Christmas season feature apple cider and hot chocolate, Amy said. “We chose non-alcoholic mocktails so everybody can drink them.”

Cooper & Co. Mobile Mocktails and More has the Instagram account of @cooperandconc and the website is https://cooperandconc.com/.