How Important Is The Alcohol?

[CREEM]

Okay. . .now how crazy is that question?

Location: Michigan
Set Up Type: After hours (Specifically 1am to 4am)

Our group started out with the hopes of building a club in a small college town that I used to live in but our biggest obstacle was the liquor license. Ideas were put on ice.

Recently talks were held about going for a different market share, “after hours”. Don’t serve ANY alcohol and focus more on the “experience”(interior, lighting, ambiance, etc)

Let them get drunk somewhere else and then come to our place for music, dancing, fancy non alcoholic drinks and lounge.

LIKE ALL things. ..we are not the first to think of this concept and I wanted feed back from professionals. . .. .thus leading to this thread.

Thanks for reading. . ..

[The Event Guy]

After hours can be very tricky. one day it's hot, the next it's not. I've got friends that run an after hours once a month with big name DJ's and it's a selll out every time. What they do is apply for a special event license that allows liquor until 2AM... from that point on it's water and redbulls.

I think that after hours are a novelty and should be operated as one. reason(s) are on going, but in short there's much liability because you're not only dealing with drunk people, you're deealing with all kinds of drunk people that might not mix.

It's hit or miss. What is your music scene like? From what I understand, Detroit is a meca for an things eclectronica.

[NYCClub]

A relative of mine has an after hour spot in a college town in central NJ. The spot is doing amazingly well because he a novelty found no where else in the area. It is a Hookah/Shisha/Waterpipe bar. If you do not know what a Hookah is you can look it up online. It is a pipe that you smoke flavored tobacco from. He has an import/export company that brings in the pipes and tobacco and sells them wholesale. Please e-mail me at amnesianewyork at yahoo dot com if you would like more details or to talk more about this business. I hope this helps.

[Toots]

I live in a small college town in Arkansas where many counties are dry and getting a private club liquor license is very difficult / expensive in that you must buy an existing one.

A few years ago a club called Stompin Country opened with live music. I don't know anything about their pricing nor if they were profitable but the place was positively mobbed. Mostly high schoolers I heard and only open on friday and saturday night.

It didn't last too long. The owners may have grown weary of dealing with it. I don't know, but it sure was popular.

And this little town really has no live music to mention, I think that was the only place at the time, and maybe still.

I guess there are angles and every case might be different :)