User Panel
Posted: 2/15/2006 11:06:15 AM EDT
there are two decent bars in town. one is new though and we're having trouble drawing a good crowd.
the new bar is about 3 miles out of town on the highway. the other bar is in the middle of town but sits directly across from the friggin jail. therefore, location isn't great for either. size is about the same with the new bar being a little bigger. old bar has 1 pooltable. new bar has 3. both have jukeboxes with the same genre of music, mostly all country. old bar is 1.75 beer, new is 2.00 what what you do to get folks out there? pool tournaments? more games? think people!!!!! |
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titties galore. |
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cash is king. Have drink specials, make shots $1 between 10-11PM and watch how many people you get. Make sure you promote all your specials a lot, people can't go where they don't know
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Depends on where it is. What kind of clientel is available in the area. College town vs business district vs country folk create a huge difference in how I would open/entice patrons.
What is the economic climate in the area? Business doing good in general? Slow? |
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On second thought, that might not be a good idea. Just get some women. |
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Got room for live music?
If so, see about booking some local acts. Shouldn't cost much and will almost certainly draw people out. |
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Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. TITTIES!!! |
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No cover for women
Women drink free on (whatever) day Ensure they have good names Theme nights My thinking is, if you cater to the women, the men will follow. I know nothing about bars, if I go to a bar once every few years that's a lot, but I just tried to apply some basic advertising principles. |
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Monday: Tribute to Hookers & Blow Night
Tuesday: Titty Cam on the Big Screen Night Wednesday: Wet T-Shirt Contest Night Thursday: Bikini Night Friday: Lingerie Night Saturday: Horney House-Wife Night with Male Strippers Sunday: Horney Guy Night with Female Strippers |
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How many people in the town?
Colleges? Age group you are looking to attract? Who is your target customer? How much money is the bar looking to spend for ad budget? Live music? You need to answer these questions to help narrow down your advertising. The end goal is to boost patronage, but you don't want the wrong type of clientel. You could have a "Double Deuce" ala Roadhouse pre Patrick Swayze or post Swayze. Ladies nights work very well in the bar biz (I have managed a few over the years). If you want to charge a cover and let ladies drink wells free, that is a good start. Guys will go where the ladies are. The key is, you have to have something to keep the ladies there. Good music (live) dancing etc. One Country bar I managed had Ladies night Wed, Fri & Sat. Started at 9pm. Prior to ladies night we offered line dancing lessons free. Tues and thurs we had Karaoke and offered beer pitcher specials. Didn't always attract the largest crowds, but it put cars in the parking lot. Cars in the lot makes the place appear hoppin. A hoppin bar is the place to be. IM me if I can be of any help. |
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Secret to good promotion is getting someone else to pay for it.
Best place to start is with the suppliers (local level distributers). Many will throw freebie crap at you like T-shirts and bottleopeners (with their logo on it) and stuff like that. Then, send the t-shirts over to a printer and have the bar logo put on the back. Give them away. You're out only the cost of having YOUR name printed on them. See if you can get them to sponser a pool tournie or something. Sometimes you can get them to pony up if you promote their products. Volunteer to have "beer tasting" and the like at the new place.... See where I am going? If all else fails, hire pretty women in small outfits. Hey, I'm female, but I know that will help just as much as the guys in here do. |
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Attract a good crowd you said. Go to bars that attract those crowds and ask the people there what they like about it. Get familiar with the other local bartenders in the area. The ones that attact a good crowd may want to perform a shift at one of your places, and will bring their regulars with them. You can also invite the bartenders to come see your place, it's probably bad form to invite patrons while they are in another bar though.
If you want college kids, offer drink specials on a certain night, but expect them to get rowdy. Also you want good bouncers that are good with people. You want people to feel safe while they are there, yet give them incentive to behave. You need from the get go that people know this is the type of place that doesn't tolerate bullshit. And as everyone else has already suggested, get some hot female regulars or bartenders. |
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Forget what I said... I agree with ^^^^^, titties!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Former co-worker bailed out of a telco job & bought a failing small town bar. He cleaned it up, added a decent TV & sports.
"Grand Opening Weekend" he promoted it by hosting a legitamate LINGERIE Fashion show. He's been rakin' in the bucks above and under the table since. |
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A bar that can't attract women will die quickly. Sausage will turn out no matter what, but if there are no chicks then the men will go elsewhere quickly.
No cover for ladies and drink specials for ladies is good start. Any chance of getting live bands or setting up a dance floor? |
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For a truly good bar you do NOT promote on the radio. You do NOT offer wet t-shirt contest. you do NOT offer cheap drinks. You higher promoters that are well connected with the young-professional crowd in the city that can bring in young, cool, fun, high net worth individuals. You promote at high end clothing stores, salons, etc. You have good DJs. You have good bar staff. Also do not charge for cover and no 18 and up shit either - 21 and up only.
In large cities a bar will be the it spot for about a year or less. The good crowd will patronize the establishment several nights a week until they tire of it and then they will move on and the bar will still have customers but they will not be the it-crowd. |
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ladies night... women drink for free. men will flock to the nearest establishment full of drunk bitches.
plenty of radio advertising will make it work |
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and a sybian on ladies nite |
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Shaved Beaver night. All women with a shaved box get 2 free drinks.
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I'd go traditional with a ladies night, radio spot, and newspaper ad.
Tj |
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Build a good customer base:
To get them in the door at first: cheap drink specials, promotions etc To keep them in: kick out the unruly, always ensure good ratio of females to males, good music, etc To get them to come back: good, fast, organized service (waiting 15 minutes for a drink sucks) |
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The oldest rule in the bar industry is the men bring the money and the women bring the men. You have to get more female customers inside to draw the paying customers.
Start having ladies nights, no cover for females. Give passess to personal trianers, strip club doormen, everyone you can think of who will give those passess to hot chicks. that will get the guys in your bar spending money. |
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Just thinking of what keeps me going to a few bars over others...
Popcorn machine or some other quick and easy food service. Gotta have some food. Simple microwave stuff. Does it have a theme to the bar yet? Look for freebie advertising/promotions stuff re: that theme. How 'bout friendly wait staff that REMEMBERS everyones names as well as what they drink? |
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Any kind or clubs or leagues in town? What are the people into? Have the bars hook up with local clubs/leagues for certain nights. Have a seasonal (deer/turkey/bow hunters, etc.) drink specials for those with licenses. Car show/drag strip/rodeo ticket-stub drink specials Typical ones: Host sporting events on TV w/ drink specials. And have flyers copied/posted for these evets. Cheers |
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Having food specials, for example, wing nights, will bring more people to the bar and there will be more demand for drinks.
Lowering the price of drinks will just increase the quantity demanded, so food is the better way to go. Well, at least thats what they tell me in economics |
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when i say small town, i mean small town.....................5000. though its equally as close to another small town so we'll call it 9000 local population.
a bbq cookoff would be cool....................... |
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Here is some advice from a former bar owner.
The radio was the single best advertising media we ever spent money on, followoed by paper, and then t.v. Get good bartenders with a loyal following, or train new ones. New ones don't know how to steal yet. |
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Tonight at |
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Good ideas, both! |
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Build a back deck. Make it feel you are there on vacation, not drinking an overpriced beer in a empty bar. Have waitresses wear skimpy clothes and play lots of Jimmy Buffet music.
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Depending on TX law, offer the usual draws, ladies get in free, free food at happy hour, free pool night, once you get them in the door, your bar and wait staff need to make them come back! Hire good freindly servers (hot ones help), knowledgeable bartenders (not just tap pullers), live entertainment, daily specials, etc. Your local liqour and beer distributors should have plenty of budget available to help with advertising, and giveaways.
A local bar owner friend of mine wanted a bigger lunch crowd, so he bought a very nice stainless gas grill, and offered a giveaway. Every day you have lunch there, you get a ticket for the drawing, his lunch sales have increased 70% since he's started doing this. |
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Bikini girls. Or better yet, lingerie girls.
Port of Long Beach (in the PRK) used to have a lunch/greasy spoon type place called Pegasus, where the girls dressed in lingerie. Best tips in town! GREAT lunchtime draw! |
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And any who shave IN THE BAR get a free case! |
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How would I promote a bar?
Well I would call the bar into my office, then tell it that it has been doing a great job. Then I would give the bar a certificate of appreciation and inform it of its promotion. Then I would give the bar a 3% pay raise and tell the bar I expect it to double its efforts now that it has been promotod. Gotta live up to those higher expections and all. |
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sounds like it's a location that prevents it from being all that successful.
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Been so long I can't remember,,,,,Driving Home might cost more than what it was worth
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