SAN DIEGO – “I failed for 20 years trying to not drink for a day, and then all of a sudden, I had the ability to make it to one year,” Monday Morning founder and CEO Zane Curtis reflected. “And then 14 months later, I’m running a business around it.”
Nonalcoholic bottle shop Monday Morning was founded by Curtis with three central objectives: curate, educate and distribute.
His goal was simple — to provide an approachable space where people could explore a world of high-quality, alcohol-free beverages.
“I think a mocktail is a mockery of a cocktail,” Curtis said. “I feel that every time you go to a place, if you ask for a mocktail, you get a sugary, broken-down version of something that’s just not what a drink was.”
When Curtis embarked on his sobriety journey in 2023, he was disappointed at the limited selection of nonalcoholic beverages in stores and restaurants. Five months in, Curtis was ready to go back to drinking.
After an enlightening conversation with a friend, however, Curtis committed to reaching the one-year mark and doubled down on his search for better nonalcoholic drinks. He spent thousands of dollars sampling options from around the world.
“I said I was going to open a bottle shop with everything I’ve learned to help anybody else in San Diego that wants to drink differently,” Curtis said. “I joke with people in the shop that my bottle shop is just my alcoholism turned into sobriety for San Diego.”
Monday Morning’s first location in Pacific Beach opened in November 2024 and its second location in Ocean Beach opened on Jan. 2 of this year.
At the bottle shop, guests can peruse over 500 nonalcoholic options and sample nonalcoholic cocktails thoughtfully crafted by Monday Morning’s team.
Last year, the company recorded year-over-year growth of about 300%. Curtis is predicting exponential growth in the coming year as the company continues to scale.
“Being the only nonalcoholic bottle shop in San Diego, you kind of have boots on the ground,” Curtis said. “You hear everybody’s gripes and complaints. We did almost 10,000 customers last year, and that’s a lot of feedback you hear from people on what they don’t like about nonalcoholic.”
Scaling Operations
After cashing out his 401k to start the business, Curtis worked with San Diego-based small business loan nonprofit Accessity to finance the company.
Within the last few months, Monday Morning has scaled considerably, Curtis said. The company has developed four main verticals, the first of which is its brick-and-mortar bottle shops.
Monday Morning’s second vertical is its new distribution arm, bolstered by a recent warehouse purchase on Market and 16th Street downtown. The company will officially take over warehouse operations on Feb. 1 and is building the space out as a fulfillment center for nonalcoholic products.
Monday Morning has exclusivity with 65 first-to-market brands through this arm of its operations.
The company’s third vertical is its work in the food and beverage space, which includes partnerships with restaurants and bartending at private events. Monday Morning is currently in 34 restaurants, with plans to scale its presence through a new monthly service that includes education, training and nonalcoholic cocktail recipe design for restaurants and bars that want to level up their zero-proof options.
“We sell stuff to some of the bars today, and they’re like, ‘I know I can get it elsewhere, but I want to go through you, because you’re my one stop shop,” Curtis said. “We become that alcohol free distributor. We’ll guide you on the best. We’ll help you write the recipes.
We’ll train you in what to do. We own it for you.”
Monday Morning’s fourth and newest vertical will be the launch of its own nonalcoholic beer, which will be produced in February and go to market in March.
The company is also scaling by looking for a third location in Encinitas and increasing visibility with displays on college campuses and in liquor stores.
Leading with Purpose
The idea for Monday Morning’s name came from a moment of post-workout realization at Curtis’ one-year mark of sobriety. Since quitting drinking, his early Monday morning boxing sessions felt better.
“As I’ve told my story time and time again, I’ve realized I quit drinking on a Monday morning. I came up with the idea for a sober bottle shop on a Monday morning,” Curtis said. “But the pun of it was, I was exercising for the first time on a Monday morning and I felt really good.”
Curtis has a professional background in retail, financial planning and business intelligence and analytics. Alcohol, he said, held him back from entrepreneurial ambitions.
“I think I always had the desire to be my own boss, if you will, in me,” Curtis said. “But I think alcohol just killed my motivation.”
Since establishing Monday Morning, Curtis has been able to share his story and provide a safe space for others to explore sobriety.
“It’s the stories you hear about people and their experience,” Curtis said. “And the people that are in recovery that come in and say, ‘This shop keeps me sober, because when I feel weak, I come here and I’m surrounded by people that aren’t struggling.’”
Curtis mentioned that Monday Morning is in talks with Petco Park on a potential partnership in the near future. Reflecting on the company’s growth, Curtis said he is proud of where the business is at after just a few years.
“I thought I was going to have some other people walking in being like, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ And I’m like, ‘I can help you. I solved it myself.’ I expected it to be a really light thing,” Curtis said. “I was going to run a bottle shop, I wasn’t going to run a business for San Diego. And now I’m learning to run a business for San Diego, because alcohol has impacted everybody.”
Monday Morning
FOUNDED: 2023
CEO: Zane Curtis
HEADQUARTERS: San Diego
BUSINESS: Alcohol free bottle shop, lounge and distributor
EMPLOYEES: 12
REVENUE: Grew 300% YOY in 2025
WEBSITE: www.mondaymorning-af.com
CONTACT: [email protected]
SOCIAL IMPACT:
NOTABLE: Come visit any of our shops and take a guess who our owner’s childhood hero is (Mr. T).
Born and raised in San Diego, Madison takes great pride in local storytelling. Her coverage at the San Diego Business Journal includes tourism, hospitality, nonprofits, education and retail. An alumna of San Diego State University’s journalism program, she has written for publications including The San Diego Union-Tribune and The San Diego Sun. At the 2024 San Diego Press Club awards, Madison was recognized for her exemplary profile writing. She was also a speaker for the 2023 TEDx Conference at Bonita Vista High School. When she’s not working on her next story, Madison can be found performing music at a local restaurant or on one of San Diego’s many hiking trails.
