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View Full Version : pubs that are for ever re-opening then closing again



winchesterclub
24-02-2010, 16:26
Just a thought if any punters out there know of a pub that is for ever re-opening then closing down more or less straight away, a couple round my way "Basingstoke" spring to mind The Great Western seems to re-invent itself every month as something different Heavy Metal Bar, Goth pub, Gay bar then closes down again and also the Castle closed down and openend as the Poison Bar and shut a week later !
Is it just bad luck or as i see it, people buy into the dream of owning a pub and think we can do this that and the other to get punters in and it will be easy to make a living ! does"nt seem to work like that anymore. Anyway i will be interested to see what stories you have about this and what pub holds the record for re-openings

Winchesterclub

Conrad
24-02-2010, 16:38
Hi Winchesterclub,

Welcome to the Pubs Galore forums, you already know all the BITE personalities, myself and Dave M are the admins so if you have any problems, queries or suggestions on how to improve the site please let us know.

One of my locals the Cabot must have been through 5/6 owners last year and 3 renovations, each interspersed with a closure until finally it has now settled on a full refurbishment and rename to The Royal Oak, I hope it sticks around for a little bit now though, it is actually quite a pleasant pub in its latest incarnation, and seems to be fairly busy.

Also is the Great Western now closed? As we have it marked as open.

Hope you enjoy your stay,

Conrad

winchesterclub
24-02-2010, 16:46
Hi Conrad
Yes i went past the Western recently and it was closed down ! but i would"nt mark it as closed because next week it will be open again !

Winchesterclub

Oggwyn Trench
24-02-2010, 18:50
The Pheasant in Wrocwardine Wood is forever opening and closing , used to be a good pub but a succsession of poor landlords have killed its reputation , reopening again in 2 weeks so im told .
The Kings Head in Wellington is the same.

On a slightly different tac the Bush in St Georges is still open despite Punchs best efforts , they have been trying to close it for years but it wont die:notworthy:

Conrad
24-02-2010, 18:51
I'll mark the Great Western Hotel (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/13305/) as closed anyway. I prefer our listings to be as correct as possible, its easy enough to change it back.

Thanks for letting us know about that.

Eddie86
24-02-2010, 21:23
It may sound daft, but we built into the business plan year 1 would be a loss, year 2 a small loss/break even and year 3 break even/small profit. I think some people that 'jump' into pubs don't think about the length of time it takes to build a reputation - and thats the best selling point a pub can have. Hell, it's why I spent 3 days off travelling to the FAT CAT in Norwich and coming back again...

Strongers
24-02-2010, 22:44
A good thing that I've started to notice is a new trend of reverting pub names back to the original ones.

Conrad
24-02-2010, 22:46
A good thing that I've started to notice is a new trend of reverting pub names back to the original ones.
Yep, we are getting far less corrections involving house numbers and postcodes as names now, as you say a welcome reversal of trend, now if we can just get them all putting up nice traditional pub signs as well.

RogerB
25-02-2010, 08:54
In Dec 2007 I reviewed a pub / bar for BITE in Mile End called the Virtual. I did a bit of research and found that it was previously called the Cornucopia. A bit more digging revealed that it was also the Flautist & Firkin and at some stage before then it was the Horn of Plenty as well. It's apparently now called the Mile Stone. Next week...who knows?

aleandhearty
25-02-2010, 12:07
Reading this thread reminded of the trend for all things Oirish. How many decent pub interiors were ripped out for some tacky Scruffy O' Murphy's etc? :moremad:

Conrad
25-02-2010, 12:21
Reading this thread reminded of the trend for all things Oirish. How many decent pub interiors were ripped out for some tacky Scruffy O' Murphy's etc? :moremad:
In our area it seemed to be swiftly followed by the Aussie trend, 2 of my locals briefly went Oz, both are now unthemed.

aleandhearty
25-02-2010, 12:35
...both are now unthemed.

But, as we both know, the damage has often been done. :(

Oggwyn Trench
28-02-2010, 00:17
Reading this thread reminded of the trend for all things Oirish. How many decent pub interiors were ripped out for some tacky Scruffy O' Murphy's etc? :moremad:

The Castle Vaults in Shrewsbury was turned into an Irish bar with great timing , within a month of opening the IRA bombed Shrewsbury Castle , a 100 yards from the pub , strangley it never took off , especially as around a 100 Shrewsbury Hooligans were involved in the Dublin riots