|
Area Bars, Restaurants and Live Music Venues Adjust
To Market Changes
by Bob
Lowe
August 18, 2005
People
love to be entertained, whether it’s listening to
live music, seeing a performance on stage, checking out
the local comedy club, dancing, watching a game at a sports
bar or just going to restaurant or tavern, few people like
to be cooped up at home all the time. This is especially
true when outside is warm and inviting.
But it is becoming increasingly difficult to get people
to come out of their homes to be entertained. Bar owners
say patronage is down. Theaters have been in a slump for
most of the summer. Restaurateurs constantly change to keep
customers coming through the door.
Unless they have a surefire blockbuster, even major live
performance venues such as the Weidner Center and the Fox
Cities Performing Arts Center have to do an extensive amount
of marketing to fill the seats.
Factors cited for the apparent slump are gas prices, stiffer
drunk-driving laws, the Appleton smoking ban, increased competition,
cover charges and a proliferation of alternative entertainment
options such as DVRs, home theater systems and computers
and the Internet.
The
recent smoking ban has come under increasing criticism
for "causing" a decline in customers, particularly
in bars and restaurants. Joel Hinze, owner of the Apple Pub,
has a sign posted outside its door that says, "Our smoking
section has disappeared. And so has our customers."
Sharon
Reader, owner of Emmet’s Bar & Grill,
said her business has lost $15,000 since the ban started
July 1. She said she had to lay off four part-time employees
and put some full-timers on part-time status. Other bar owners
reported losses of 25% to 50% compared with a year ago.
Smoking ban rivals unsuccessfully converged on City Hall
Wednesday to urge the Common Council to approve a resolution
by Ald. Richard Thompson to conduct a new referendum that
would exempt bars from the indoor workplace smoking ordinance.
The Common Council defeated the measure, 10-6. Opponents
say they will trigger an automatic referendum by presenting
a petition with the signatures of 3,770 Appleton voters.
Long before the smoking ban went into effect, clubs have
been struggling to attract patrons willing to pay cover charges
of $2-$5, particularly for an unknown band.
Tom’s
Garage in downtown Appleton, which used to feature live
music consistently, recently closed temporarily but has
since reopened on Friday and Saturday evenings through
at least the end of August.
Whether
Tom’s will remain open beyond August will
depend on whether investors want to keep backing a venture
that isn’t attracting the needed customer base to make
a profit.
At
Mill Creek Blues Café on W. College Avenue, A
DJ has replaced live bands on most nights this summer. Bands
will return in the fall, but not as often as in the past,
general manager Jason Bruehl, said.
The whole economic landscape for local arts organizations
has changed since the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center opened
in November 2002, according to Laurie Friedman-Fanin, a local
actress, director and arts advocate.
"Since the opening of the Weidner clone downtown,
I have watched Friends of Riverside disappear, fabulous productions
such as "Equus" at the University of Wisconsin-Fox
Valley play to audiences of 20 people and Attic Theatre,
one of the oldest, most respected community theatres in the
country, go from a full summer season at Lawrence University
to readings at a mall," Friedman-Fanin stated in a letter
recently published in The Post-Crescent.
"We
have the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center to thank for
al of it,"
she
added. “I have never and never will give one
bloody cent to the vampire known as the Performing Arts Center."
The management of the PAC said it continues to work with
and promote local arts groups such as the Fox Valley Symphony
Orchestra and the Attic Theater.
Some
are predicting that if business doesn’t
pick up soon, many bars and entertainment centers will
close and downtown will suffer economically. Yet, investors
continue to find Appleton’s central business district
an attractive place for any number of entertainment ventures.
While
some venues have closed, other businesses are eager to
move into what has become the city’s entertainment
district. Fusion, an upscale restaurant with a sliding glass
garage door and semi outdoor dining, took over the space
formerly occupied by Smokin’ J’s.
Construction
is underway on a second Anduzzi’s Sports
Club, 403 W.
College
Ave., which will be similar to the one in Green Bay. The
350-seat, $1.8 million project is expected to open in November.
Co-owner Mike Lenarduzzi said the smoking ban hasn’t
affected his plans for the two-story 8,000 square foot
structure at all.
Mario
Nunez, who is opening Los Alamos Club de Billar in the
former Milhaupt’s Bicycle Works building at 314
N. Appleton St. in a few weeks, said he doesn’t smoke
and most of his employees prefer to work in a non-smoking
atmosphere. Kokomo, a tropical-theme bar that took over the
former Zugie’s Pub at 1200 S. Oneida St., went smoke-free
from the start, a month before the smoking ban went into
effect.
Some
bars and restaurants, such as Senor Tequila, Starbucks,
The Bar on the Avenue and Bazil’s Pub and Provisions,
are adjusting to the change by setting up tables in the outdoors,
where customers can smoke while eating and drinking.
Fratello’s
on the Riverfront, the former J’s
Restaurant at 501 W. Water St., recently set up outdoor dining
facilities, offering patrons a scenic view of the Fox River.
Waverly Beach co-owner Mike Bailey said $170,000 was recently
invested in renovating the back patio with a new deck, bar
area and table seating for 150. The bar/restaurant south
of 114 at U.S. 10, overlooks Lake Winnebago and now gives
customers "a real tropical feel."
***
Ever wonder what the Transportation Security Administration
baggage screeners do with all those Swiss Army knives, scissors,
lighters, nail clippers and other supposedly dangerous items
they confiscate from airline passengers?
According to a recent TV report, many of these confiscated
items end up for sale on eBay. TSA regulations allow for
state agencies responsible for disposal of such items to
donate or sell these confiscated items.
The
Port Authority in Portland, Ore., has recently changed
its policy from donating "voluntarily abandoned items" to
not-for-profit organizations to selling such items on eBay
with profits going to the state. It remains unclear how long
the state may continue this practice since the first auction
yielded a high bid of only $15.
***
John
H. Johnson, 87, founder of Ebony and Jet Magazines, died
Aug. 8, 2005 at Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial
Hospital after an extended illness. The grandson of slaves,
Johnson was born in Arkansas City, Ark. and moved to Chicago
with his family at age 15. After graduating from public schools,
Johnson attended the University of Chicago and Northwestern
University.
He started as a clerk with the black-owned Supreme Life
Insurance Co. but decided from very early on that he wanted
to go into business for himself. Johnson refused to let racism,
poverty and segregation to deter him in his vision of having
blacks be fairly represented in the mass media and the economic
life of the U.S. In 1942, with a $500 loan secured by his
mother's furniture, he launched his first publication, Negro
Digest, a journal that condensed articles of interest to
a black audience.
In 1945, he founded Ebony magazine and, in 1951, Jet magazine.
A third magazine, Ebony Man, a monthly men's magazine, premiered
in 1985. These publications chronicled black life, accomplishments,
history, culture, celebrities and challenges for much of
the latter half of the 20th century. These magazines became
influential in the civil rights movement, not only in the
U.S. but to a worldwide audience.
Johnson's Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Co. became one
the largest black-owned businesses in the U.S. with annual
revenues of about $500 million. More important than his financial
success, these publications became fixtures in black households
and provided the motivation for other blacks to achieve success,
not only in sports and entertainment but in the sciences,
education and business. Along the way, Johnson was able to
persuade major white companies to advertise in black media
and to feature black models in their own ads.
Rev.
Jesse Jackson told a Web publication Johnson’s
journalism contributions were far reaching. “What he
did was so profound," said Jackson. "He put a human
face on black people. He showed us black weddings. He showed
us blacks in opera. He showed us black scientists. He showed
us black writers, thinkers and creators. We miss him already,
but his legacy and his company live on."
Johnson
also founded a cosmetics company, specializing in black
hair care, beauty enhancement and skin improvement products.
Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 1995. He
is survived by his wife, Eunice, director of Ebony Fashion
Fair, and a daughter, Linda Johnson Rice, president and
chief executive officer of Johnson Publishing Co.
***
Hollywood
isn’t in a panic about the decline in movie
audiences in recent months because the studios make less
than 20 percent of their revenues from the box office ticket
sales. The bulk of profits come from the sale and rental
of DVDs, games, merchandise and TV deals. The real big time
at the cash register comes not when a movie opens in the
theater but when it is released on DVD.
***
Africa Heritage Inc. and Appleton Sanctuary Outreach Ministries
are sponsoring Family Day Celebration from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 27, at Kiwanis Park in Appleton at Lindbergh
and Nicholas streets.
The free event will feature food, drinks, entertainment,
basketball, tennis, volleyball and free blood pressure screening.
People are urged to bring lawn chairs and books to exchange.
For more information, contact Alieu Fofana at 722-0364 or
313-0007.
***
Air Wisconsin, the largest privately held regional airline
in the U.S.
with more than 3,900 employees, is now in partnership with
US Airways.
The Greenville-based carrier, which previously had a long-term
partnership with United Airlines as United Express, flew
its first route as US Airways Express to Philadelphia on
Aug.13. Air Wisconsin will operate 16 daily departures as
US Airways Express by the end of this month.
For
comments or questions, contact boblowe@juno.com or
by phone at (920)-731-4603.
|
