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From Pa's stories the bar business during the big depression did not wane. I was talking to an owner the other night and we were discussing doing wed nights. He saidwe have a saying. When people are happy they drink. When they are sad they drink more. That pretty well sums it up. How are the bars doing in your area?

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Around 5 closing every day in the UK.

Is that am or pm.

if it's pm sheesh we don't even get started here until around 10pm

L.W.

Don't know about bars Ollie, but liquor and beer sales are way up from what I've heard.....along with ammunition.. Ron

Sales are up and profits are up in the bars that I'm in close communication with.

It is really interesting to go into Olive Garden, Stanfords, Red Robin. Red Lobster etc., you would never know that there is an Economic Downturn here. You hear it on the news but people are still spending.

I walked into a Shopping Center called Bridgeport Center the other day (Tuesday) around 2pm and we had a real problem finding a place that had an open table for a late lunch. All of these restaurants are upscale and you can expect to spend $30 to $50 for a lunch for 2 people. There are about 10-15 different choices and they were all packed.

Our employment figures show 9.5% unemployed which in a good economy runs about 5% so we are almost double of what it should be in good times. Yet people are still driving their cars more, spending at retail establishments, and dining out.

Very interesting indeed.

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Scott

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My home room hasn't missed a beat. But an Elks lodge that I host occasional Fridays in may not last through the year. I think that has more to do with the new non-smoking law than the recession.

My Fridays have been cut back so I get out more. Outside where I work, a live music venue has been packed on the two Fridays I was there this year. A DJ room not as busy as I remember it, but that may be due to the fact that the packed live music room is on the same block.

During the last big recession in the early 1980s I was a young gun playing in bands in Seattle and business actually went up during that time. Bars may indeed be recession proof.

Not so good here. Our attendance has dropped. We seem to have a small pool of people who still go out but only one night a week now. And they go to whichever of the 3 bars has something special that night--free food, free drinks for the ladies, whatever. So the Friday night hosts at our venue offered a free dinner last week and they had a huge night. We had next to no one the next night. The week before, 2 of the three bars had special Valentines events but ours didn't and the Friday hosts who usually have 30 people had 6. We had a few more but people nursed cokes all night. We were just building and getting compliments on our sound and rotation and thanked for being there, etc. when our regulars started disappearing (3 got DUIS). I am taking it a bit personally, feeling we aren't connecting, aren't right for the venue or this business, etc. but other hosts are telling me they don't know how much longer they will hold on where they are as they aren't bringing in the money they used to. (Recent policy of the Sheriff's to circle the bars all night may also be having an impact.)

We had the perfect timing to invest in this business a month before all the bad news about the economy hit. We had several places we had talked to who were interested in having karoake. Now they are putting it off. If they had decided to go with a company that had more experience, it would be one thing but they aren't having anything at all. People seem to be waiting and we can't seem to get a foot in the door.

It has gone from reading about these things happening to knowing people who are losing their houses, got layed off and can't find anything else, can't afford to renew their business licenses, etc. In the town where I have my day job, a community group has started a soup kitchen. Seems there are people in nice homes but low on food--mainly contractors. 6 or 7 businesses are closing in the downtown and we have been told we are a few weeks away from having our hours cut unless things change.

Hate to be grim but I was going on the, "bars are the last to go," hope. Now I am rethinking strategy and trying to decide what to do. I tend to get in the low mood and then come up with something. Our bar owner is burned out and has the place up for sale so anything as far as advertising or special events will have to come from us. I am not feeling like I should have to provide dinner for people to get them to come, especially when it doesn't seem to buy any actually loyalty.

I just depressed myself. So I should add, there IS a custom Brew Pub in the town where I work that is just jam packed, even on week nights. But they offer appetizers and dinner along with some live entertainment and karaoke. A group of us go there one night a week after work because we can order food and a beer instead of just several beers. (No one wants a DUI). The older, just stictly bar type bars in town aren't as full.

Things are about the same here, but we have been depressed for a decade as the auto industry left us a long time ago.

Attendance at my shows is quite a bit up. They are so busy I wouldn't attend myself, as I wouldn't get to sing often enough for my taste.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.