Odd Culture Sells Spon, Its Drink-In Bottle-O on King Street

Odd Culture Group has a mish-mash of excellent venues in its stable: psychedelic performance bar Pleasure Club, classic pub The Duke of Enmore, wine bar Odd Culture and its lofted French bistro, and Woolloomooloo charmer The Old Fitz. And for one more month: Spon, the drink-in bottle-o in Newtown. The team has sold the casual little bar and is preparing to open something big in the CBD later this year.

“We’ve wanted to do a business like this in Sydney for so long,” Odd Culture CEO James Thorpe told Broadsheet when Spon opened in August 2023. “It’s something that exists so peacefully everywhere else in the world, including Melbourne – there are tons of these 20-seat drink-in bottle shops, where the government trusts you to sit down and open the bottle in the shop.”

Thorpe’s referring to the hybrid licence that took nearly three years of work to get Liquor and Gaming NSW on board with: one that’s “very New South Wales”, with a duo of licences and boundaries in the one venue. When the team secured the green light, it was the first licence of its kind.

Spon was a pivot for the Odd Culture bottle shop. A bar and long communal table were moved in, a bright mural was painted by Sydney-based Bodie Jarman of El Oso Negro Sign Co, and tables and chairs were set up outside. Twelve by-the-glass pours flow throughout service, and you can buy a bottle from the shelves then drink in-store.

From May 19, husband-wife duo Neet Aujla and Lakhwinder Singh – who have a retail background – will be running the show, and they’re planning more of the laid-back energy that defines King Street.

“When we opened Spon … people got it,” Thorpe said in a statement today. “They came, they drank, they bought bottles, they told their mates. It became something we were really proud of. This handover isn’t a goodbye, it’s the next step … I’m stoked to see Spon continue with new custodians who care as much as us.”

Spon’s new team will take over on Monday May 19, 2025.

@spon.bar