The Journal Record - Article

Keeping up appearances
by Kelley Chambers
The Journal Record February 27, 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY – Three new nightclubs are set to open soon in Bricktown, one locally owned and two national chains.


David Robertson and LaJuan West, marketing director and head entertainer with America’s Pub, at their new location in Bricktown on Wednesday. (Photo by Maike Sabolich)

Jim Cowan, executive director of the Bricktown Association, said bars and clubs are a key component in the district, but also face challenges keeping their doors open while keeping up the district’s image.“Having nightclubs down here is a very important part of the identity of Bricktown,” Cowan said. “But you have to understand the environment you are opening the business in.”

Cowan said communication between Bricktown retailers and club owners is important for harmony. In the spring and summer club owners meet on Friday evenings to discuss issues with Cowan, the police department and the ABLE Commission.

“If there’s a problem with how someone’s operating, the whole idea is to open up the lines of communication,” Cowan said.

Some of the major concerns are overcrowding at clubs, making sure no minors are being served, and curbing patrons who drink too much then are turned loose in Bricktown to start trouble.

That communication has helped some clubs thrive. Others, such as Halo and the LiT Lounge, have fallen by the wayside.

Cowan, who owned the Bricktown Brewery for more than a decade, said it is a tough climate for bars in general. Despite the large crowds that often populate the district on weekend nights, the life expectancy of a bar or club is a year or less.

But Bricktown has also been good to some club owners like Bobby Dennis and Bobby Spann, owners of CityWalk, which has been open nine years.
In the next two months Coyote Ugly Saloon, America’s Pub and Michael Murphy’s Dueling Pianos are set to join the landscape in Bricktown.
Murphy’s, owned by Dennis and Spann, will open next month in a corner spot of the Oklahoma Hardware Building facing the Bricktown canal.

The owners of St. Louis-based America’s Pub are setting up shop for their party-themed bar chain at 115 E. California in the former Varsity Sports Grill. David Robertson, director of marketing for America’s Pub, said the ownership began eyeing Oklahoma City, and particularly Bricktown, this year. He said the district fits the pattern of their clubs in Kansas City’s Westport entertainment district and Wichita’s Old Town. Historic entertainment districts have been good to the brand, he said.

“We’ve tried it outside of locations like that and it doesn’t stick as well as old town areas,” Robertson said.

The pub is set to open in March under the management of Paul Banks.
LaJuan West, head entertainer at the Bricktown America’s Pub, said the clubs have an atmosphere that’s a cross between a Broadway show and a rock concert.

As West and his team work the crowd, music and lights flood the club. There are numerous costume changes – think loud shirts with butterfly colors – when disco songs are played.

“We involve the crowd in all our activities,” West said.

Anyone who has seen the movie Coyote Ugly will be familiar with the idea behind New York-based Coyote Ugly Saloon. The irreverent female bartenders wear tight clothing and dance on the bar tops to country music. Coyote Ugly will open next month in the Miller Jackson Building overlooking the canal.
Brad Baker, with NAI Sullivan, helped lure Coyote Ugly, but it took some work to convince their site manager that Oklahoma City was a smart move for expansion.

“This was a market they were teeter-tottering on for a while,” Baker said.
After looking at the site, and with the new NBA team that came to town last year, Baker said they were convinced.

Cowan said Bricktown as a whole, and its bars and clubs, can take advantage of the crowds and momentum in the district if they have a fresh concept and there are good operators in place. He said the three new clubs will also do well if they can open in time for the Big 12 basketball tournaments coming to the city in March.

“These three are all opening at the right time,” Cowan said.

The America's Pub concept seems interesting.

They come and they go, come and go, come and go. Sometimes the chains are the only ones with decent financing behind them that allow them to last.

I'd love to see a Fox Sports Grill (whose website is currently being held for ransom) or a Chammps. You know, a real sports bar.

Any updates on the Coyote Ugly opening?

We have one now. It's called Brix.

Brix Sports Bar