Private club
 

There's still a private club in The Villages. The Angler's Club. But you can't go there unless you are family, friends, associates or politically influential chums of the developer. I wonder if it is profitable. I doubt whether he cares.

I had dinner there and the food was excellent. A monthly fee to be a member.

I am not saying this didn't happen however if this was the real issue why would they simply not institute a minimum spend policy. Instead they closed down half of it, spent the money to revamp on the second floor of a senior citizen community and then use the same model ? It still has a stage, a dance floor, but more a restaurant than "saloon" . Again wouldn't minimum spend accomplish the same with twice space and capacity. KB's never lacked for drawing a crowd. Many nights there was a line to get in. The entertainment is/was the same performers as when the stage was downstairs. More than meets the eye here. Me thinks they were setting up for closure but had to deal with their own personal quilt of closing Harold's pride and joy named after his mother. I also believe H. Gary Morse would never allowed for the closure also.

Let's try this as a starting point:
- Didn't fit with the atmosphere/clientele they thought The Sharon was going to draw I.E. upscale dinning.
- Too many restaurants in The Square were competing for good wait staff. Thus The Developers were the competition of other businesses they were charging rent. All were beginning to lose.
- Lack of dependable / quality staffing was causing high turnaround and the drug trafficking started to increase.
- The Developers simply lost interest as they have with other items throughout the years (which is their right- it's their kingdom). The profit simply wasn't worth the headaches.

Other theories exist. BUT I don't fall for this it was because the patrons were drinking water. That's putting the blame on us and that's BS. We, the same patrons are still living here.

So, tell me. Can anybody join if the can afford the monthly fee?

You need to be invited by a Morse or a local business owner. I wish I could join the food and service were excellent. Interestinfact no prices on the menu.

The original KB's was a well designed club that was run right for a long time. I am aware that some people would spend time there sipping on a glass of water and literally buying nothing. If folks don't spend at a club it folds.

KB's reminded me of a club in my old home town where I spent a lot of time (and money). They had good house bands, ladies night a couple days a week and brought in some top bands. Men always paid a cover charge. The place opened at 5:00 p.m., ran a two for one happy hour until 7:00 p.m., and was always filled and so popular the owners eventually bought the land next door and built a new much larger club using the same floor plan but greatly expanded. They tore down the old building and used that land for parking. They maybe had two acres of parking at this point. This club was a success for fifty years.

This video shows the layout. While a latin band is playing in the video the Caravan East was primarily a country-western venue. Caravan East Night Club in Albuquerque, Features Live Music by Severoy Grupo Fuego on Vimeo

The neighborhood changed over the years and became so rough the locals started calling it the "war zone". That is likely why they closed. It became unsafe to even drive in the neighborhood, especially at night.

Developers develop.


Once developed, if profitable developers tend to sell off and go onto the next project.
There are not many who want to be in the retail business, the bar business, the restaurant business..................mostly when (say) half of the population is season.


:icon_wink:

They could have fixed that in two seconds flat. Institute a minimum that would allow them to make money.

It's their money, their property and none of our business how they spend THEIR money. What is so hard to understand about that?

People who were too cheap to buy a meal and some drinks to fund the operation of that venue definitely would be too cheap to pay a cover charge. They took advantage of the situation to their detriment.

Just like you said, its all theories (actually nothing but baseless guesses), nothing supported by fact. How many restaurants have you successfully operated?

None - I had enough smarts to make money in a much easier way.

Theory - Proof ?

Agree.
About the only place where minimum's work are country clubs.
(not many even work there)

They are a form of dues that creates volume for a food service operation to survive.

Agree

Instead they fixed it by spending a boatload of money remodeling and downsizing but keeping true to the same old formula. Something wrong with this picture !