If you owned a pub....

Meg8686

Hey all, this is our pub!! My best friend is the landlady and we al live here It's awesome. Before Rach took over the pub had an awful reputation. We're trying to Build it back up and win back the locals, it's happening slowly but surely.



Does anyone have any suggestions for events or promotions we could put on? Anything you've seen done that you liked, or anything you go to localy that you think we could do?

So far we do friday happy hour followed by a meat draw, theres a skittle alley and a Garden. We have a 24hr license to play with and food served in the day and evenings ... but we need to up our game.

Saying that if your a musician or a band in the Dorset area feel free to PM me. Were really want to promote local bands and we LOVE live music . Would love to hear from you

We're getting some ideas on paper tonight , ALL Suggestions welcome

DS1119

Wet tshirt contests.

Meg8686

So obvious I even knew who'd post it ... but all ideas are being considered at this stage .

What else have you got?

Digital Twilight

I used to run Giant Jenga tournaments in the pub I worked at many years ago. Those were fun

http://www.gardengames.co.uk/acatalog/Giant_Jenga.html

mickeyrat

dart tourneys. is there a league for darts or pool?

mfc2006

open mic nights are always a lot of fun. plus, it's a good way to audition bands for full sets.

make the specials fun...and worth it to the customer. maybe sell certain drinks just above cost to get things started.

get a good jukebox.

get a pool/shuffleboard table.

trivia night is fun

mix up the menu....try some new dishes. let the cook experiment & have their experiments be the happy hour specials.

best of luck!

Meg8686

Thanks all . We have a dart board and all the skittle teams in dorset play here too. they say they can't beieve the change in the place.

Thanks for planting the garden games seed in my head Heres a few pics of the Pub garden

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/423701_355072374579410_672224697_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/155139_355072571246057_2007045083_n.jpg

DS1119

Put trivial pursuit cards on all of the tables.

dimitrispearljam

chill out ambient night..

Digital Twilight

Meg8686 wrote:

Thanks all . We have a dart board and all the skittle teams in dorset play here too. they say they can't beieve the change in the place.

Thanks for planting the garden games seed in my head Heres a few pics of the Pub garden

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/423701_355072374579410_672224697_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/155139_355072571246057_2007045083_n.jpg

Looks like a nice place to drink on a sunny day.

Very obvious but a pub quiz is always popular but one of my local pub serves free chips and sausage at the interval. Very popular and relatively cheap. It depends how big the interior is too.

Meg8686

http://alovelypintofbrown.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/goldies-36-high-east-st-dorchester.html

Good to get some great reviews too. Hopefully we can really make this place something special

dottles

Board games, jenga, dominoes,connect 4 type games goes down pretty well in a lot of the pubs here, with some giant versions in the garden. One of my faves is a 'real ale' pub and has a menu for the weekly specials or ales/ciders etc which people like, they do an open mic night and have a quiz too.
Sunday carvery, a good jukebox, maybe some guest ales/beers from local micro breweries etc.
On the live music front, in Helston they run a 'Helstonbury' a little local mini festival between a couple of pubs (with one of the stages being in the skittle alley), but maybe you could amend that sort of thing as a kickstart.
Have a Pearl Jam covers band and organise a meet up

he.who.forgets

good beer, good music. I won't leave

mfc2006

he.who.forgets wrote:

good beer, good music. I won't leave

2 key points!

youngster

mechanical bull and a place for a live band to play are some good choices. hot female bartenders would keep the guys in the house all hours of the night.

Released1980

"Guest Bartender" usually works out well...

Everybody wants to be the bartender, so you have people sign up to be your bartender for an evening. Gimmick is they work for you for free, they invite ALL of their friends so they show off behind the bar. Friends of bartender get a stamp or what not for $1 off drinks or whatever ya like....Place gets packed when "Guest Bartender" has lots of friends, Bar makes money

mfc2006

Released1980 wrote:

"Guest Bartender" usually works out well...

Everybody wants to be the bartender, so you have people sign up to be your bartender for an evening. Gimmick is they work for you for free, they invite ALL of their friends so they show off behind the bar. Friends of bartender get a stamp or what not for $1 off drinks or whatever ya like....Place gets packed when "Guest Bartender" has lots of friends, Bar makes money

that's a solid idea!

Meg8686

Released1980 wrote:

"Guest Bartender" usually works out well...

Everybody wants to be the bartender, so you have people sign up to be your bartender for an evening. Gimmick is they work for you for free, they invite ALL of their friends so they show off behind the bar. Friends of bartender get a stamp or what not for $1 off drinks or whatever ya like....Place gets packed when "Guest Bartender" has lots of friends, Bar makes money

I LOVE it!!

Released1980

:thumbup:

Oh...and Bottomless Cup Hour... $20 gets a pint glass w/ refills for an hour. 99% of people believe they can drink like fish, Bullshit. Promote the hell out of bottomless cup hour from say 8pm-9pm on Fridays. People will PACK that place thinking they are gonna get hammered! Which they will, but if you can get 20 people to buy a bottomless cup, That's $400 sale in an hour And then they are drunk and on tilt so they are stayin and payin till close.

youngster

Released1980 wrote:

:thumbup:

Oh...and Bottomless Cup Hour... $20 gets a pint glass w/ refills for an hour. 99% of people believe they can drink like fish, Bullshit. Promote the hell out of bottomless cup hour from say 8pm-9pm on Fridays. People will PACK that place thinking they are gonna get hammered! Which they will, but if you can get 20 people to buy a bottomless cup, That's $400 sale in an hour And then they are drunk and on tilt so they are stayin and payin till close.

Genius!

pjfan31

Released1980 wrote:

:thumbup:

Oh...and Bottomless Cup Hour... $20 gets a pint glass w/ refills for an hour. 99% of people believe they can drink like fish, Bullshit. Promote the hell out of bottomless cup hour from say 8pm-9pm on Fridays. People will PACK that place thinking they are gonna get hammered! Which they will, but if you can get 20 people to buy a bottomless cup, That's $400 sale in an hour And then they are drunk and on tilt so they are stayin and payin till close.

That is brilliant...

BLACK35

Released1980 wrote:

"Guest Bartender" usually works out well...

Everybody wants to be the bartender, so you have people sign up to be your bartender for an evening. Gimmick is they work for you for free, they invite ALL of their friends so they show off behind the bar. Friends of bartender get a stamp or what not for $1 off drinks or whatever ya like....Place gets packed when "Guest Bartender" has lots of friends, Bar makes money

Does this work in the states? There is no way you could do that up here in Canada with the liqour laws and such. You would lose your liqour if they found out and heaven forbid if someone should die if you had a guest bartender. Does sound like a great idea though

stargirl69

Released1980 wrote:

"Guest Bartender" usually works out well...

Everybody wants to be the bartender, so you have people sign up to be your bartender for an evening. Gimmick is they work for you for free, they invite ALL of their friends so they show off behind the bar. Friends of bartender get a stamp or what not for $1 off drinks or whatever ya like....Place gets packed when "Guest Bartender" has lots of friends, Bar makes money

That is an inspired idea,well done.

A great jukebox and great beer gets me staying in a pub all night.

My favourite place to go used to be a proper dive,total snooker cue brawl place,I was never in it but it was notorious in the area.
New owners took it over and turned it into a really great place to go.They do a film night,they have a roll down cinema screen on the wall and projector,the food menu of the night reflects the film being shown.They also have really chilled out cool staff that make everyone feel relaxed and enjoy themselves.

There is loads of random stuff on the walls and propped up,it keeps people interested and creates a cool atmosphere.Good food is a must,decent locally produced food.

Lovely beer garden,has great potential for BBQ during the summer Good luck

Released1980

BLACK35 wrote:

Released1980 wrote:

"Guest Bartender" usually works out well...

Everybody wants to be the bartender, so you have people sign up to be your bartender for an evening. Gimmick is they work for you for free, they invite ALL of their friends so they show off behind the bar. Friends of bartender get a stamp or what not for $1 off drinks or whatever ya like....Place gets packed when "Guest Bartender" has lots of friends, Bar makes money

Does this work in the states? There is no way you could do that up here in Canada with the liqour laws and such. You would lose your liqour if they found out and heaven forbid if someone should die if you had a guest bartender. Does sound like a great idea though

Yes. It works. Only the establishments need the liquor license, not the person tending bar. A bartending license or certification is only for the individual who recieves it's resume. Not up on Canadian laws but if someone dies as a result of who serves them a drink I'm not quite sure what the authorities could do about it different from if it were just a regular joe behind the bar. I mean, if a licensed bartender served a blatantly drunk fool and that drunk fool went off and died as a result of too much alcohol. It doesn't matter if the bartender was licensed or not. They are still fucked, they just know how to make a better appletini I guess.... But yes, in the states its completely legal. And I only post these ideas from a profit generating standpoint. The 2 most profitable business one can own are a bar and auto repair shop. The mark up on cost to profit is absolutely INSANE if you know what you're doing.
For a mechanic, it really helps to be located in or near a ghetto, for a bar its better to be as close to a college or university as possible

PJFAN13

TV's for sports (NFL, World Cup, etc...)
Many taps - half for regular beers the other half in rotation of killer craft beers
Cool specials on yummy grub (great food = great crowds) - i.e. Saturday/Sunday MORNINGS --> "Kegs N' Eggs"
Awesome music - both live and jukebox/master
Theme nights w/ booze specials
Awesome bartenders and servers

Get out & involved in the community (golf courses, gas stations, universities, PTA Mom's, etc...) and drum up crowds, free grub, discounted drinks, etc... if you want people to come back they need to feel like the place is home. Meaning, they need to get to know staff/owners, that they are heard (request certain beers, menu items)

Get a presence on social media (Twitter, FB, etc...) - have 1 screen displaying tweets and posts continuously in the bar w/ pictures

have yummy snacks belly up at the bar (not boring pretzels and peanuts) do peanut butter filled pretzels, wasabi peas, edamame,etc...

Offer it up to wedding companies for bachelor parties, weddings, etc...

Get cozy with the local hotels - give the GM a "black card" for year round discounts, where the % increases with more guests he/she refers

Word of mouth

Good luck

mickeyrat

I would say do all this stuff slowly. Maybe allow your customer base to drive any improvements THEY want to see. Other than that what do YOU want in a pub?

81

have we discussed the need to have attractive women customers? get the women in and the guys will follow.

skilled bartenders are must. i hate guest bartender night. i want a pro behind the counter.

mickeyrat

81 wrote:

have we discussed the need to have attractive women customers? get the women in and the guys will follow.

skilled bartenders are must. i hate guest bartender night. i want a pro behind the counter.

pro or amateur doesnt matter, just get the shit in a glass so I can pour it down my throat and keep them coming. But I'm easy that way.

81

mickeyrat wrote:

81 wrote:

have we discussed the need to have attractive women customers? get the women in and the guys will follow.

skilled bartenders are must. i hate guest bartender night. i want a pro behind the counter.

pro or amateur doesnt matter, just get the shit in a glass so I can pour it down my throat and keep them coming. But I'm easy that way.

for beer maybe, but for mixed drinks, i want somebody that knows what they are doing....

i hate the guest idea....seems like that is something you do at home.

DS1119

Serve these.

Meg8686

All amazing ideas thanks guys!! About to sit down and have a big chat about making some changes

So yeah, just a final Bump to see if anyones got anything else for me & again. Thanks guys Big LOVE for all the help