When the PigPen Sports Bar & Grill opened in 2009, it was the only hog in the sty.
But in the end, it became a victim of its own success, owners said ? too many similar pigs in the Lehigh Valley.
On Monday, the Union Boulevard entertainment complex closed its doors for good, bidding farewell to loyal customers via a sign posted on the front door.
Like other businesses that blossomed around Coca-Cola Park in east Allentown, the PigPen was eager to capitalize on fans flocking to see the IronPigs.
Les Bartholomew and his partners got in the game early, scooping up a former bowling alley for less than $1 million and converting it into an entertainment complex, complete with bowling lanes, an arcade, entertainment stages and multiple bars.
For several years, business was good, Bartholomew said in an email Thursday. PigPen was practically the only business of its kind in a 50-mile radius.
But it didn't take long for competitors to arrive on the scene. Within a few years the Sands casino and SteelStacks were open in south Bethlehem, paying substantially more for bands that were playing in the area, Bartholomew said.
"Based on what [the bands] were paid, they demanded higher rates ...," he said. "Small businesses cannot compete with these bigger corporate-sponsored entertainment complexes."
The closure could be viewed as an ominous sign for the businesses near PigPen, many of which hoped the ballpark would be enough to create a customer base in the area.
But it's important that people keep the news in perspective, said Don Cunningham, chairman of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., who was Lehigh County executive when the stadium was built.
Realistically, a baseball team will play 72 home games a year, and on those days, businesses can expect an additional 7,000 to 10,000 people in the area, Cunningham said. But there has to be a business model that can support the 293 other days, he said.
PigPen had a lot of square footage to maintain and had been struggling to find a good niche in the market, Cunningham said.
"The challenge with any retail entertainment operation is to have the right mix of square footage for what the market will demand," he said. "If you look just around the corner, the Copperhead Grille has done extremely well, but it's smaller and focused on food."
Just down the street, Rose Stofko, owner of Pitchers Sports Bar & Grille, said a steady flow of patrons has stopped by to ask about PigPen. Because PigPen relied heavily on entertainment acts, it was vulnerable to competitors like the casino, she said.
Like PigPen, Pitchers has found that the ballpark next door isn't enough to buoy a business, Stofko said. You have to have your own customer base, she said.
"It's great, it's family-oriented," Stofko said of Coca-Cola Park. "But they have everything in there that they need. Nobody in the area really prospered from the ball field."
Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski said he was sorry to see PigPen go ? he was a patron ? but it's not an indicator for development in the area, he said. The stadium has the highest attendance of any minor league stadium in the country, and that has a positive impact on the businesses around it, he said.
A developer has bought a number of properties in the area, and once a nearby bridge project connecting American Parkway is complete, the corridor will be even more marketable, Pawlowski said.
"[I'm] sad to see it go, but we will work diligently to try to re-market that site and redevelop it as we have with other sites," he said.
PigPen Sports Bar & Grill this year paid fines on three citations issued by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. The bar was cited once for serving a minor, once for serving a visibly intoxicated patron and once for passing bad checks for the purchase of alcohol, according to the LCB.
Co-owner Les Bartholomew said the decision to close had nothing to do with the violations. "The only reason for closing was the current economic climate in the Lehigh Valley," he said.
Source: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-allentown-pig-pen-bar-closed-20121207,0,4473763.story?track=rss
howard johnson levon helm firelight world peace elbow kevin love think like a man world peace
No comments:
Post a Comment