Night Club ideas

[DonJ81]

Hey guys, I'm interested in opening a sports bar and grill somewhere in Northern New Jersey. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas as to what cities would be a great location, I was looking at Hudson, Essex, Passaic or Bergen counties. Thanks for any feedback.

[scrollhectic]

Newark - near the Prudential Center. The place is swarming with fans before and after Devils games and once the Nets come to Newark :D then there'll be even more buzz. There are a number of store fronts for rent on Market near Mulberry right near the Prudential center

http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/MainSite/Listing/Search/SearchResults.aspx

[ItstheBeat]

Downtown Jersey City

[JCMAN320]

Yes Downtown could use a ngihtclub. We only have one, Sandbar and it's out of the way and seasonal. All the other places and bars, lounges, and restaurants.

[Ninjahedge]

Hoboken NEEDS a good sports bar, but space is a premium, so I would not even bother looking there.

The key thing is to have enough TVs so that most of the bar can see as many games as possible at the same time without having to move around.

Also, start looking at areas around the Light Rail stops. One way of getting people in is to make it easy for them to get home...

[DonJ81]

Thanks for the replies everybody, anymore ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[DonJ81]

Yes Downtown could use a ngihtclub. We only have one, Sandbar and it's out of the way and seasonal. All the other places and bars, lounges, and restaurants.

What areas of downtown JC did you have in mind? What about the Journal Square area as well?

[DonJ81]

Hoboken NEEDS a good sports bar, but space is a premium, so I would not even bother looking there.

The key thing is to have enough TVs so that most of the bar can see as many games as possible at the same time without having to move around.

Also, start looking at areas around the Light Rail stops. One way of getting people in is to make it easy for them to get home...

It's also going to be a grill, think of a sports themed apple-bees.

[Ninjahedge]

They tried one in what is now Papaya Burger or whatever i is called.

It was sort of a Johnny-Rockets (50's malt shop) sports bar. The main problems were as I said:

It costs a lot to rent.
It takes a while to create a following
There weren't enough screens that were easily viewable.

Then again, that was before you could get a 40" LCD for less than $1000.


Applebees is meh. You might get some people in, but you will be in direct competition with TGIF, Applebees, Ruby Turesdays, Houlihans, Bennigans and just about any other suspender wearing franchise out there.

What generally works better is trying to get that rustic feel in the city, charge a bit more for it, but no so much as to make a burger more expensive than a family meal at KFC.... Watch some of the Food and Travel networks shows (Man vs Food, Anthony Bourdain, Diners Drive Ins and Dives...) to get some ideas of what might be different enough to get attension, but familiar enough to not scare people away....


GL!

[DonJ81]

They tried one in what is now Papaya Burger or whatever i is called.

It was sort of a Johnny-Rockets (50's malt shop) sports bar. The main problems were as I said:

It costs a lot to rent.
It takes a while to create a following
There weren't enough screens that were easily viewable.

Then again, that was before you could get a 40" LCD for less than $1000.


Applebees is meh. You might get some people in, but you will be in direct competition with TGIF, Applebees, Ruby Turesdays, Houlihans, Bennigans and just about any other suspender wearing franchise out there.

What generally works better is trying to get that rustic feel in the city, charge a bit more for it, but no so much as to make a burger more expensive than a family meal at KFC.... Watch some of the Food and Travel networks shows (Man vs Food, Anthony Bourdain, Diners Drive Ins and Dives...) to get some ideas of what might be different enough to get attension, but familiar enough to not scare people away....


GL!

Like a cracker barrel or old country buffet?

[DonJ81]

Bump

[tone99loc]

Re: Jersey City -

I don't think Journal Square is a good location for a sports bar at this point - The immediate area is pretty gritty and the residential population is largely Indian - mostly 1st generation (also Filipino, Arab, and various Spanish speaking backgrounds). So if you envisioning people flocking to Journal Square to watch Giants game on HDTVs, it ain't gonna happen for another decade, if ever. However, if you want to make an investment in satellite tv and broadcast cricket, soccer, and manny pacquiao fights, then you might get a crowd.

Newport area is very mixed ethnically. For watching sports, there's a restaurant/bar called Dorrians that's unremarkable, a popular Chili's, and a dive sports bar now called O'Hara's Downtown (formely PJ Ryans). You also have to compete with whatever is in the Newport mall.

As for the rest of downtown JC, like JCMAN said, it lacks any really good nightclubs and there's no real sports bars other than dives. The Liberty Harbor area will develop over the next few years and that strikes me as a place and population that could be better served by a well done sports bar (so somewhere closer to Grand Ave).

[DonJ81]

Re: Jersey City -

I don't think Journal Square is a good location for a sports bar at this point - The immediate area is pretty gritty and the residential population is largely Indian - mostly 1st generation (also Filipino, Arab, and various Spanish speaking backgrounds). So if you envisioning people flocking to Journal Square to watch Giants game on HDTVs, it ain't gonna happen for another decade, if ever. However, if you want to make an investment in satellite tv and broadcast cricket, soccer, and manny pacquiao fights, then you might get a crowd.

Newport area is very mixed ethnically. For watching sports, there's a restaurant/bar called Dorrians that's unremarkable, a popular Chili's, and a dive sports bar now called O'Hara's Downtown (formely PJ Ryans). You also have to compete with whatever is in the Newport mall.

As for the rest of downtown JC, like JCMAN said, it lacks any really good nightclubs and there's no real sports bars other than dives. The Liberty Harbor area will develop over the next few years and that strikes me as a place and population that could be better served by a well done sports bar (so somewhere closer to Grand Ave).

thanks a lot! can you tell me more about the liberty harbor/Grand Ave?