Can we please have Delicateating back at O’Connor Shops (or any other quality casual dining restaurant).

I can’t say I’ll be too affected if ABN does close down, but do recognise there are a lot of others who will miss it.

There is also some irony that the Vietnamese restaurant that was the previous tenant at the ABN site has also ended up at the Griffith Shops.

I’d like them back in O’Connor too please!

On the radio this morning, one of the co-owners said they hadn’t been told directly by the landlord that they were not to be extended…. He said something along the lines of it being rumour at this stage. However, that doen’t mean it won’t become fact very quickly!

That will be a pity as All Bar has become a bit of an institution.

Isn’t the building owned by the same guys that own Suburban in Dickson?

Suburban MKII?

Now where are Raiders players going to urinate on people?

Peekz said :

Now where are Raiders players going to urinate on people?

Well they’ve already moved on to Suburban. But I’m guessing Public for this season now the Tradies deal is over.

chewy14 said :

Isn’t the building owned by the same guys that own Suburban in Dickson?

Suburban MKII?

So if that is true that means they would then have;

Suburban/Belluci’s,
Belluci’s Manuka,
Public Manuka,
Belluci’s Woden,
Academy nightclub and now
Whateva will open in O’Connor….

While on the subject of bar closures. Can anyone tell me what is going on with Filthy McFaddens? Last time I walked past it looked like a construction site. Is it closed for good? It was also a Canberra institution.

toadstool said :

While on the subject of bar closures. Can anyone tell me what is going on with Filthy McFaddens? Last time I walked past it looked like a construction site. Is it closed for good? It was also a Canberra institution.

I’m going to say that it has been closed for the last 2 years or so….

buzz819 said :

chewy14 said :

Isn’t the building owned by the same guys that own Suburban in Dickson?

Suburban MKII?

So if that is true that means they would then have;

Suburban/Belluci’s,
Belluci’s Manuka,
Public Manuka,
Belluci’s Woden,
Academy nightclub and now
Whateva will open in O’Connor….

Actually I’m not sure anymore, I was possibly thinking of the Holy Grail building in Kingston where the owners are in court with the Holy Grail because they want to build a new pub/club there.

So you can add that and Edgars in Ainslie to your list.

And who said there wasn’t money to be made in Restaurants / pubs and nightclubs?

Thumper said :

That will be a pity as All Bar has become a bit of an institution.

Yes, an institution of urinating meat heads. Glad to see this dive is being given the boot.

schmeah said :

Yes, an institution of urinating meat heads. Glad to see this dive is being given the boot.

The meatheads moved on to greener pastures some time ago.

Are you saying you never urinate?

johnboy said :

schmeah said :

Yes, an institution of urinating meat heads. Glad to see this dive is being given the boot.

……
Are you saying you never urinate?

I try not to urinate on other people. Terrible habit that.

Regardless of whether you like ABN, the underlying story is that the landlord kicks out a successful business (which of course it has the right to do once the lease expires) and then sets up his own successful business offering (it appears) exactly the same. In other words, once all the hard work has been done and a bar established and a client base created, just take over the business. I mean, realistically, if ABN becomes ‘The Monks Cassock’, 95% of people will still turn up and drink there on a Sunday afternoon. They won’t care who the owner is (eg: johnboy’s comment “One hopes the landlords will not drag the chain in opening the new premises”).

This was a big issue for small businesses in shopping centres a few years ago (go through the hard yards to create a successful small business, only to have the landlord up the rent and sell your spot to someone else, who then runs a business very similar to the one you worked so hard to create). There was legislation passed but I dont know how successful it has been (nor whether it applies to the ABN situation).

I know that the landlord owns the building and that renters take the risk upon lease expiry – but if the business works they get screwed at lease renewal time or – in the worst case – have their business taken from them entirely; if it doesnt work they still take the risk because the lease payments are often personally guaranteed. Luckily most building owners are passive investors who dont want to run a business themselves.

There is no solution to this of course. A left wing person might say it shows that those who own the land (capital) always win the battle over those that provide the labour.

schmeah said :

Thumper said :

That will be a pity as All Bar has become a bit of an institution.

Yes, an institution of urinating meat heads. Glad to see this dive is being given the boot.

Man, that was years and years ago…..

And a right wing person would say, work harder and buy the building yourself!

Holden Caulfield said :

And a right wing person would say, work harder and buy the building yourself!

As long as the money’s made lawfully, sure.

I will miss All Bar Nun.

I’m not that bothered if ABN stays or goes. What I’d like to see is a bit more competition for the IGA there – it’s expensive, has a crappy range of products and staffed by people who couldn’t give a toss.

Maybe we could move the Northside contractors on to greener pastures and use that space for some useful shops (eg baker, Deli, decent cafe, newsagent, [insert own preference]).

God you guys create your own fantasies. The new owners are not apart of the bellucis group. The owners will be engaging a tenant and the potential tenant will be a known team of guys that run other hospitality businesses. But nothing set in stone. And I can tell you Public will not be hosting the raiders maybe the Phoenix can? Or the front ? The rugby boofheads can tackle a few hipsters or urinate on some following tradition.

I couldn’t care less if this or any other bar shuts in Canberra but really “horrific news” jees

XO_VSOP said :

God you guys create your own fantasies. The new owners are not apart of the bellucis group. The owners will be engaging a tenant and the potential tenant will be a known team of guys that run other hospitality businesses. But nothing set in stone. And I can tell you Public will not be hosting the raiders maybe the Phoenix can? Or the front ? The rugby boofheads can tackle a few hipsters or urinate on some following tradition.

Did you read the part of my second comment where I said I wasn’t sure and that I’d actually been thinking about Holy Grail in Kingston?

It sounds like it has been an ongoing saga for some time:

http://the-riotact.com/all-bar-nun-under-threat/22364

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/all-bar-nun-gets-chance-to-own-premises-at-last/2008827.aspx

Overall: oh well, whatever, nevermind.

chilli said :

I’m not that bothered if ABN stays or goes. What I’d like to see is a bit more competition for the IGA there – it’s expensive, has a crappy range of products and staffed by people who couldn’t give a toss.

Maybe we could move the Northside contractors on to greener pastures and use that space for some useful shops (eg baker, Deli, decent cafe, newsagent, [insert own preference]).

The IGA is what it is. The range of stuff isn’t that bad and as for competition, Lyneham and Ainslie are only a couple of km away.

Overall, though, I agree. More development/shops/whatever at O’Connor would get my support.

All of a sudden the previous landlords who also ran the now closed gay sex club upstairs – and who the shopkeepers (including ABN) complained about so loudly in the late 1990s and early Noughties – don’t seem all that bad after all.

All Bar Nun relied heavily on the student trade didn’t it? Griffith is an affluent area, but Griffith Shopster New Age vego hippies nursing a soda & bitters won’t bring in anything like the $. May not be a good move!

needs must when the devil drives!

buzz819 said :

toadstool said :

While on the subject of bar closures. Can anyone tell me what is going on with Filthy McFaddens? Last time I walked past it looked like a construction site. Is it closed for good? It was also a Canberra institution.

I’m going to say that it has been closed for the last 2 years or so….

Too many stabbies.

I-filed said :

All Bar Nun relied heavily on the student trade didn’t it? Griffith is an affluent area, but Griffith Shopster New Age vego hippies nursing a soda & bitters won’t bring in anything like the $. May not be a good move!

I don’t think so, most of the people there when I go past are blue collar types having a beer or cheap pub meal in the afternoon.

I-filed said :

All Bar Nun relied heavily on the student trade didn’t it? Griffith is an affluent area, but Griffith Shopster New Age vego hippies nursing a soda & bitters won’t bring in anything like the $. May not be a good move!

Student trade 10 years ago or more maybe.

The_TaxMan said :

I couldn’t care less if this or any other bar shuts in Canberra but really “horrific news” jees

I reckon there was a touch of self deprecating irony there. It’s one of those things that’s difficult to explain…