Katie Belles transformation
 

If you have been in TV 3 or more years you probably remember Katie Belles fondly. A few years ago it was allowed to wither on the vine in an effort to turn the space into apartments.

The building was very pleasing to the eye with large, floor to ceiling, arched windows and stained glass in the interior. The photo shows the result of "progress". Now it is just exactly what the business model said it should be. I get the business decision but it is still very sad to me.

The fond memories were a lot more than 3 years ago. Anyone that has a business that is not profitable is going to end it.

Please move on. Why carry this around for so long.

This dead horse has been beaten to a bloody mess.

Not for some people

In another couple of weeks, the Medicare Advantage vs Medicare Supplemental will be the"Beat it to Death" subject of the month.

& after that, there's the "Snowbirds are in Town" beat down to look forward to.

With a smattering of "Dog Poop" for good measure...

The point of the post is the transformation of the building from pleasing architecture to just another building.

Jeeze, too many jerks on here ready to jump on anything. You know who you are. The dead horse is all of you with nothing better to do than snipe at other peoples comments.

"If you have been in TV 3 or more years you probably remember Katie Belles fondly. A few years ago it was allowed to wither on the vine in an effort to turn the space into apartments." -- That's not talking about the building. Hence the comments.

We went once for lunch nothing memorable about the experience NEVER RETURNED.

There are more and more of us “newbies” who arrived after Katie Belle’s bit the dust - I know some of the more seasoned residents talk about this place with great fondness, so I feel bad for their loss of this establishment.

Actually I miss the Cattle Baron restaurant. Kind of had a Villagers club feel..

We were at KB’s hay day in 2007. Patrons spent money, for good food, great bar, and tables packed for entertainment dinner and dancing. Long waitlist.

Fast forward to 2010, menus downsizing, less bar drink choice, food mediocre at best. 60% or more sat at tables listening to free music, drinking water with lemon, occupying table for hours spending a few dollars.

Next step, time and dollar amount limit on tables, tickets for good entertainment. Angry old people, not going to spend money on what they are entitled to for free.

KB’s moved upstairs, Reno downstairs for retail, hoping to boost a failing business. Didn’t work. KB’s closed. If one has only been here 3 years, KB’ s was long gone.

I have never met an investor that would continue a business, lose money, and want to keep it open. Maybe newer residents just didn’t want to spend $50 on an iconic business.

So do I miss KB’s no, I was over it when you couldn’t get a table, because too many people were ordering water, and putting in their own flavors from home.

Clientele killed KB’s, not the developers

Take a deep breath and read the rest of it. And the statement you DID quote is entirely accurate. I put it in bold to make it easy for you.

"The building was very pleasing to the eye with large, floor to ceiling, arched windows and stained glass in the interior. The photo shows the result of "progress". Now it is just exactly what the business model said it should be. I get the business decision but it is still very sad to me."

KB was gone when we moved here and keep hearing about people sitting there for hours not ordering anything.

If this was my place would institute a minimum and max time to occupy a table. Otherwise no reason to keep it open and have always wondered if the plan was to close it.

. Welcome to "Old People's Internet." ;)

Ah, the New York minute concept.

From what I understand, they remember it fondly because it was a place you could go and occupy a table for several hours, at the price of just a 2-drink minimum, and not spend another dime all night. Unfortunately, it was such a popular idea that the servers had little to do, the restaurant didn't make any profit, and they eventually "popularized" themselves out of business entirely.

The management/owners could have/should have made changes to allow themselves to make a profit.

Apparently they did, but Villagers didn't want to hear about it, they were used to their entitlement and weren't interested in having their privileges taken away.

As my grandparents told me, "this is why we can't have nice things."

Post #14 sums up KB's in a nutshell.
In early days it was residents only.
Wife and I went there once when it was open to all.
Once was enough.
'Denny's' was fine dining compared to what was on offer at KB's.

Third paragraph, “ put a time limit and a $ minimum on each table. That caused the up roar, and yes I will say it the older residents to be:swear:.
They were promised (not really) a private club, by old man Swartz, for free, and that’s what they expected.

My guess is the older residents once minimums were set, came, did the I-will show them, sit at this table have two cokes, and keep my developer given right alive. Even if they don’t make a profit, they have plenty of money, and will never close KBs.

The younger crowd, just gave up and went elsewhere, after all, who cares if it was residents only, KBs was on the path of self resident destruction, and we could find other places. I rarely use the word “entitled”, but that was the reason of the start of the demise of KBs.

If the entitled folks wanted it so bad, why didn’t someone lease the space and open it themselves?

Florida's Friendliest Hometown's residents killed this place!

I was here when Spanish Springs was built. From the get-go, the Rialto and Katie Belles were not attractions the majority of residents used frequently. They tried several ways to strum up business and each failed. I am not surprised the theatre and KB closed. What I can't understand is why it took so long.

I remember KB but not fondly. During my limited experiences there, the service was slow, the food was marginal. Yes the building was unique but was overshadowed by the other factors.

I agree, miss it very much

All you people are nothing but negative remarks!get a life

Thanks for sharing this with me and others

I never quite understood what happened there, even though I was reading about it from time to time, from our of state, as it was occurring.
TV was on our radar with a few visits under our belt, but we never went to KB's. It's demise was before our time, so thank you so much for that explaination!

It clarified a lot about the villagers beloved Katie Belles and it's history.

2010 was a very bad era with failures of epic proportions. I guess this was another that "Stimulus" money never reached. Or, perhaps it did reach the architecture re-do.

Great recap tho, Thank you!

Seems negative.

:mornincoffee:

LOL, I want that shirt!! It has me written all over it!

Losing money
 

The villages does what every big business does. Looks at businesses that lose money and gets rid of them. Katie Bells perfect example that you can’t pay a band $1500 a night and not charge admission and let people sit at bar nursing a $3 dollar beer. Movie theaters another example, can’t support 3 of them.

One would think after not getting it right a few times a business would put more effort into upfront research / business pan. No sympathy here on my part for the developer. The clientele in TV is a well known commodity from every demographic right down to the finite size. Stop blaming the water sippers - the residents possess the same traits for the last 30 years or perhaps the percentage of resident water sippers has increased over the years ? There - it was the newbies south of 466a fault.

We now have a war of posters on our block. Seems someone walking their dog bagged his feces after it went and threw it out in someone elses garbage can they were passing along the walk. The homeowner of the can was told by a neighbor what happened. They came home, checked their ring doorbell and the war is on. Funniest was a large banner of the lady (her dog was not in the photo) throwing a bag into the garbage can with the text "Why would I want your sh95 in my can". I found this funny on a couple of levels. To those unfamiliar with the story it appears as if someone is accusing the lady of throwing HER xxxx in the can, andsomething about XXXX in my can just seems amusing (When I hit 50 I started regressing to a younger age each year.).

I may be delusional but do not see myself as old. All of my friends, yes they are old. Not me though. I assume you are from NJ (or have a weird way of picking a user name) What exit? Seriously what part?

I moved here in 2002. Katie Belles was never a big thing. I remember visitors and outsiders going there more than the residents. Eventually, some Villagers squawked that they could never get a table and they made it residents only. I went a few times and it was not busy. The Rialto, church, bakery, fresh vegetable store and many restaurants also failed to attract residents. It was the first square and the family kept experimenting. When they built the Sharon Morse Center, things started to turn around. For awhile, Katie Belles was busy during the winter months but in the summer it was empty.

Tried and Failed
 

From what I have heard the owners tried to "allow themselves to make a profit" and the old guard did not except having to pay .

I loved the architecture and ambiance of Katie Belles. I miss the beauty.