I want to open a bar....?!
Answers: How do bars get those cool signs and mirrors and stuff advertising a particular beer? How can i fill my bar up with cool signs and stuff. What drinks should i serve?
Once you get your beer distributors...beg. Seriously. You really have to have a good relationship with them, especially if you're a small place. They are hard to get, but when a bigger bar closes, then they have extras. And at least in Iowa, they're on "loan". So you don't get charged, but if you go out of business you have to return them or they will charge you! If you have the money, try ebay. Warning, when neons break, they're expensive to have fixed and it's your money that pays for it.
I always did the passive-aggressive thing with my distributors. "Oh this place is so dull, I'd really love to promote your beers with maybe some mirrors or neon??" Then I'd tell my other company that Bud gave me signage, and they'd come with more signage! You have to play them against each other.
Good luck, they hand signage out with an eye-dropper!
Beer distributors are limited on how much stuff they can put in. It takes a long time to build it up. Many bars close and the beer distributor looses hundreds of dollars of stuff. Get your beer license and the beer men should appear! Check with them our your state authority on the legalities of everything! The repeal of the Volstead Act (Prohibition) left regulation up to the states.
Depends what kind of bar it is. I would make sure you have a range of the common drinks, e.g popular beers, popular spirits (vodka, gin, rum, brandy, tequila etc.), wines and soft drinks to start with, then if you get enough suggestions for other things, look to explore your range. Or you could have the common stuff and then one really unusual drink that can be your bars signature drink that everyone knows it for (like some kind of funky cocktail or hard to find spirit/beer). As for signs, why not have a look on ebay? Try taking a look at http://www.neonsign.com/beersign.html
You get promotional signage from you beer/liquor distributors mostly, but in some cases, depending upon the state you live in, they don't give them away free anymore. There are numerous websites that sell bar, club, and beer neons and signs, but at a price. Check with your local beer distributing company, chances are if you are willing to commit to giving a certain brand (i.e. bud or miller) sole draft beer business, you can get a lot more out of them. Good Luck.