Bar Room Drawl By Chris Ytuarte Editor
Gin and Other Challenges "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." — Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca The bar business has always been and will always be full of challenges, and they often come in different shapes for different generations. While American taverns in the early 1900s saw a spike in gin sales, today gin is a spirit that still somewhat struggles to find an audience with drinkers who prefer vodka over the botanical booze of their grandparents. But things are looking up, as Millenials and new legal-age patrons seek interesting spirits to imbibe. The challenges in this industry are seasonal and generational, but many are also cyclical. The gin saga, which we cover this month, is similar to so many in the nightlife game. For example: When gin popularity was at its apex in the early 20th century, the biggest sport in the world was boxing. Fast forward to 2015. The heavyweight championship of the world was on the line last month when Wladimir Klitschko and Bryant Jennings boxed, and the match was barely a blip on the (TV) screens of bar owners in America. Little was heard of on-premise promotions aimed at folks who might want to watch the fight in their local bar. A week later, the “fight of the century” between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, with a steep in-home 4
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May 2015 Vol. 8, No. 5 Bar Business Magazine (ISSN 1944-7531) is published by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation 55 Broad St 26th Fl., New York, NY 10004 executive offices
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pay-per-view price of $99 (for HD), would seem to be a sure-fire bet for bar owners editorial looking to host an event. Yet days before Editor the match, sports-oriented casualChris Ytuarte dining chain Buffalo Wild Wings 212-620-7223; fax: 212-633-1863 announced it would only show the fight cytuarte@sbpub.com in a few company locations and in just 70 franchised units, a smattering of the art company’s 1,080 locations across all 50 Creative Director Wendy Williams states (485 are directly owned by the wwilliams@sbpub.com company, 585 are franchised). Quite simply, the price for a Buffalo Wild Art Director Wings to broadcast the event — $5,100 Sarah Vogwill per unit — was deemed too high when svogwill@sbpub.com considering the likely return at the door and from bar sales. Does this mean production Corporate Production Director boxing is not the on-premise draw it Mary Conyers once was? Are people simply more likely mconyers@sbpub.com to stay home with a few beers and spend the $99 rather than pay a $20 cover circulation charge at the local bar to then buy Circulation Director drinks all night? Maureen Cooney Whether its gin or boxing, the pulse mcooney@sbpub.com of the public is paramount for bar owners. In this issue, we Mention find out if gin is ad and advertising sales this receive FREE back; we look at limited liquor license Art Sutley onsite installation!212-620-7247; fax: 212-633-1863 establishments and how they operate; asutley@sbpub.com and our two staffing articles — Bob Johnsons’s follow-up about cocktail waitresses, and a look at where the circulation department bartending work is booming in the U.S. 800-895-4389 — speak to one of the more constant Bar Business Magazine is published monthly. on-premise challenges: employees. All rights reserved. Nothing herein may Should you face any of these tests, be reproduced in whole or in part without remember this: The biggest bar trend of written permission of the publisher. To Purchase PDF files of covers, layouts or the last decade, without a doubt, has hard copy reprints, please call Art Sutley at been Prohibition-era cocktails and 212-620-7247 or email asutley@sbpub.com. design. You know what was hugely popular during the Prohibition era? Boxing and gin.
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