Whats are some good ideas to help a failing bar/club?!
I've been recently asked to help bring in more people to this pool hall/bar/club!. Ever since I quit there back in 2004, I guess the place just started to tumble in bar patrons!. The shooters still attend but the night life scene has just dropped!. Anyway the owner installed a new dance floor and lighting to give it a club appeal!. They got a new DJ which looks like people of the local area knows!. What would be some ideas to get this place hopping like it use to!? Fliers!? Drink specials!? I don't know where to begin because this isn't your normal club venue Www@FoodAQ@Com
Answers:
The DJ sounds like a good start, but it's probably going to take some time!. Contests are good at bringing people but you can only get away with it about once a month!. Big prizes means lots of people coming in for the contest!. If you can have an event with a $10 cover and a $1000 prize you will get more than a 100 people to cover the prize money!. A best legs contest with screen so people can only see the bottom three feet of someone is easy and tame enough that you won't get into any trouble!. I knew a place that had a bikini contest with a $500 prize and they brought in over 1000 guys every week to watch!.
I find it is very important to have at least half of your bartenders be women!. It's not just to get the guys in, but also the girls!. Many women do not like to be in a bar if there are no women working there since the guys tell dirty jokes to the bartenders and with women behind the bar the guys tend to behave better!. A good looking bartender who chats with the guys and a guy who can pump out the drinks is a great team!. Two girls is bad since they both get hit on so much it's hard for them to get the side work done and keep the booze flowing!.
also keep a better eye on the bottom line!. What I see more than anything else is bartenders skimming and over pouring a place out of business!. The trick I see the most is they bring in their own bottle of Jager and sell cash shots to four or five guys at a time!. Since they all buy shots the bartender can pick up a quick $80-$100 in fifteen minutes!. Because it's cash they don't ring it up in the system and the next day the alcohol is right but the till is not what it should be!. They hit the no sale button and take the cash when they do the drawer at the end of the night!. They also overpour top shelf drinks!. You have to do some homework and maybe some spying to find out if the help is one of the things bringing the place down!. You can do precise alcohol inventory by using a digital scale to weigh the bottles everyday and you can calculate how much is being sold vs given away!. I know of a couple of bars where the owner drank away the business!.
Atmosphere Lighting is also big issue!. Does the place smell!? You need to get a woman in to really tell!. Women o not like locker room smell!. The place I'm working for now really needs a makeover in the lighting department!. They have a bunch of track lights on the bricks but the big bright lights make the shadows even darker so the whole place has a basement feel to it!. It's much better to have many small lights so that the entire room seems to glow!. All lights should be on dimmer switches!.
Don't go too cheap with your specials!. $2 Bud lights will bring in crowd of guys who have $10 to spend and leave a $2 tip on four beers in an hour and a half!. You make more on a draft than two bottles!. Better to have some good mixed drinks you can charge $6-$8 each!. An Island Oasis machine is worth every penny and will pay for itself in a matter of a few months!. Get some nice looking glasses too!. If you have dancing, frozen drinks will sell!.
A few on the bar video games can bring in some serious money!. One bar owner I know bought a used bartop Megatouch Maxx machine for $1200 and he gets between $200-$300 week in quarters in a tiny bar!. I know other places with the better machine(that have a jukebox in it too) and they split about $700-$1000 week with the vendor!.
http://cgi!.ebay!.com/Megatouch-MAXX-Sapph!.!.!.
Finally spend a lot of time hanging out in the clubs that are working and find out how to use what works for them!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
I find it is very important to have at least half of your bartenders be women!. It's not just to get the guys in, but also the girls!. Many women do not like to be in a bar if there are no women working there since the guys tell dirty jokes to the bartenders and with women behind the bar the guys tend to behave better!. A good looking bartender who chats with the guys and a guy who can pump out the drinks is a great team!. Two girls is bad since they both get hit on so much it's hard for them to get the side work done and keep the booze flowing!.
also keep a better eye on the bottom line!. What I see more than anything else is bartenders skimming and over pouring a place out of business!. The trick I see the most is they bring in their own bottle of Jager and sell cash shots to four or five guys at a time!. Since they all buy shots the bartender can pick up a quick $80-$100 in fifteen minutes!. Because it's cash they don't ring it up in the system and the next day the alcohol is right but the till is not what it should be!. They hit the no sale button and take the cash when they do the drawer at the end of the night!. They also overpour top shelf drinks!. You have to do some homework and maybe some spying to find out if the help is one of the things bringing the place down!. You can do precise alcohol inventory by using a digital scale to weigh the bottles everyday and you can calculate how much is being sold vs given away!. I know of a couple of bars where the owner drank away the business!.
Atmosphere Lighting is also big issue!. Does the place smell!? You need to get a woman in to really tell!. Women o not like locker room smell!. The place I'm working for now really needs a makeover in the lighting department!. They have a bunch of track lights on the bricks but the big bright lights make the shadows even darker so the whole place has a basement feel to it!. It's much better to have many small lights so that the entire room seems to glow!. All lights should be on dimmer switches!.
Don't go too cheap with your specials!. $2 Bud lights will bring in crowd of guys who have $10 to spend and leave a $2 tip on four beers in an hour and a half!. You make more on a draft than two bottles!. Better to have some good mixed drinks you can charge $6-$8 each!. An Island Oasis machine is worth every penny and will pay for itself in a matter of a few months!. Get some nice looking glasses too!. If you have dancing, frozen drinks will sell!.
A few on the bar video games can bring in some serious money!. One bar owner I know bought a used bartop Megatouch Maxx machine for $1200 and he gets between $200-$300 week in quarters in a tiny bar!. I know other places with the better machine(that have a jukebox in it too) and they split about $700-$1000 week with the vendor!.
http://cgi!.ebay!.com/Megatouch-MAXX-Sapph!.!.!.
Finally spend a lot of time hanging out in the clubs that are working and find out how to use what works for them!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
-fliers are a definite way to attract people!. thats what gets my friends & i to wanna go!. pass them out near college campuses, liquor stores, restaurants, etc!.
-drink specials & have customers be able to name drinks!.
-have snacks-pretzels, chips, nuts, wings, shrimp cocktail, etc!.
-ladies free till a cut-off hour
--have different theme nights-disco, black light, western, mardi gras, etc!.
-vip rooms & specials
-weekly contests
-sell shirts, cups & hats with the bar name
-tv for sports
-rent areas of the bar/entire bar for parties & events
-name tables, decorate with the theme & make special drinks for each table- sex & the city, hollywood, football/baseball/basketball table, pink, luau, red devil, winterWww@FoodAQ@Com
-drink specials & have customers be able to name drinks!.
-have snacks-pretzels, chips, nuts, wings, shrimp cocktail, etc!.
-ladies free till a cut-off hour
--have different theme nights-disco, black light, western, mardi gras, etc!.
-vip rooms & specials
-weekly contests
-sell shirts, cups & hats with the bar name
-tv for sports
-rent areas of the bar/entire bar for parties & events
-name tables, decorate with the theme & make special drinks for each table- sex & the city, hollywood, football/baseball/basketball table, pink, luau, red devil, winterWww@FoodAQ@Com
Install BUZZTIME TRIVIA and have tv screens all around for people to play it!. Go to the website for Buzztime to learn about it!.!.!.!.!. There are tournaments and many people are addicted to it, and spend hours every night in the local bar playing it:) !.!.!. especially the QB1 football games!.!.!.!.!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
yes, have a $1,$2 or $3 drink night, is there a kitchen!? have 10 cent or 25 cent wing night or have karaoke night or since this seems like whats happening now, have a gay night!? even if you're not with it, it will help boost the night lifeWww@FoodAQ@Com
Definitely have drink specials, offer late nights apps like wings (10 cent wings draw in a crowd or even 25 cent wings can work), and live music always works!. Having one night a week for karaoke will bring in a crowd (no matter how annoying the night will be)!.
Good Luck!!Www@FoodAQ@Com
Good Luck!!Www@FoodAQ@Com
Definetly do lots of drink specials, thats how i decide which bars to go to!. also try to get some live bands to perform, that seems to help get people to come out more!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
ADVERTISE IN THE LOCAL PAPER, ON THE WEB, ANYWHERE, RADIO TOO!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
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Strippers and free drinksWww@FoodAQ@Com
Have good appetizers, comfortable furniture to sit in!. If the furniture is uncomfortable no one will want to hang around!. also have drink specials and appetizers!. I know some places on certain nites have things like BBQ Ribs, Buffalo Wings, etc!. at a special price!. also let new bands play at your place!. Sometimes Bands will play for free just to get the experience and to become known!.
We have a local bar here where I live and they have Celtic Music at least once a month!. There's also a bar that has what they call "Bardic Night" and everyone comes dressed in Medieval Costume and a Band comes and plays Celtic Music and they have Belly Dancers, Bagpipers and even some of the people who come get up and tell a story or sing a song!. I personally have gone more than once and each time got up and sang a Celtic Song or 2!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
We have a local bar here where I live and they have Celtic Music at least once a month!. There's also a bar that has what they call "Bardic Night" and everyone comes dressed in Medieval Costume and a Band comes and plays Celtic Music and they have Belly Dancers, Bagpipers and even some of the people who come get up and tell a story or sing a song!. I personally have gone more than once and each time got up and sang a Celtic Song or 2!.Www@FoodAQ@Com