19 January 2012

All Bar Nun to close by 1 February?

| johnboy
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all bar nun

The Canberra Times has the horrific news that O’Connor’s All Bar Nun has been ordered out by the landlords:

The new landlords bought the building in late 2010. They were not available for comment yesterday, but it’s understood they are planning to open a new bar on the site.

Despite the setback in O’Connor, the owners of All Bar Nun are also proceeding with plans to open a restaurant and bar at Griffith shops.

The development, in a former Chinese restaurant, is expected to be open for business within a matter of weeks.

So if you want a sneaky pint in the sun there’s not much time.

One hopes the landlords will not drag the chain in opening the new premises.


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I can see it being turned into something like SubUrban in Dickson or Public in Manuka. Seems like they have a formula, and now they just punch them out.

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]).

I shop there a bit because its convenient for me living in Turner. I don’t do big shops there but go there fairly regularly. Your delusional if you think small shops like that can charge the same as the big supermarkets. I don’t mind paying more for the convenience of local shops.

Fliponout said :

Life Goes On
This is Canberra there is no loyalty to any business in this town
They were offered to buy the building and passed on it
Such is Business there Loss and the new owners Gain ‘
LIVE AND LERN BY THE Mistake..

Live and lern? Live and F*&king LERN? Is this what the world has come to? Being urged to lern by people who can’t spell Lurn?

Moran.

dtc said :

caf said :

Well, after pulling this stunt a couple of times one would think that such a landlord would gain a reputation as being someone that small businesses don’t want to do business with.

Sure. If you, as a small busines, have an alternate location/landlord to use. Not if you are leasing from one of the larger shopping centre operators or the owner of the entire shopping centre in your suburb. Or if the landlord changes part way through your lease.

Sure, it doesn’t help the small businesses that have been screwed over, but it does punish the landlord, so this should act as some kind of deterrent.

XO_VSOP said :

The rugby boofheads can tackle a few hipsters or urinate on some following tradition.

League boofheads. Rugby boofheads do other things.

caf said :

Well, after pulling this stunt a couple of times one would think that such a landlord would gain a reputation as being someone that small businesses don’t want to do business with.

Sure. If you, as a small busines, have an alternate location/landlord to use. Not if you are leasing from one of the larger shopping centre operators or the owner of the entire shopping centre in your suburb. Or if the landlord changes part way through your lease.

Now I dont know anything about the ABN situation, only what is being reported and rumoured. If I were a small business then, based on the rumours, I probably would look elsewhere; however if I was a small business already at O’Connor then I dont have much choice other than to cross my fingers at lease renewal time.

Landlords dont get everything their own way, of course. Small businesses often fail and dont pay rent. Many businesses are not location dependent and will move to the best offer at the end of their lease, even if you have been a great landlord.

dtc said :


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.

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.

Well, after pulling this stunt a couple of times one would think that such a landlord would gain a reputation as being someone that small businesses don’t want to do business with.

I’ll try and stop by ABN for a quiet ale to say goodbye.

Well Geezzz ..how to pick !! two earth shattering news items ,, nuns to close, and one of the wiggles gets the boot. Wiggles win.

Fliponout said :

Life Goes On
This is Canberra there is no loyalty to any business in this town
They were offered to buy the building and passed on it
Such is Business there Loss and the new owners Gain ‘
LIVE AND LERN BY THE Mistake..

Your post has reminds me… Whatever happened to Krats?

Kerryhemsley2:15 pm 20 Jan 12

Not one of the new owners are you Fliponout? I noticed you posted on the CT website with the same spelling mistake.

Life Goes On
This is Canberra there is no loyalty to any business in this town
They were offered to buy the building and passed on it
Such is Business there Loss and the new owners Gain ‘
LIVE AND LERN BY THE Mistake..

poetix said :

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!

A lot of vegetarians drink, in order to make up for missing nutrients. I will miss this place. Although it’s not one I use a lot, it’s nice to know it’s there if I’m feeling anaemic.

Admit it, you hate vegetarians because you know they are so much better than you.

Holden Caulfield11:19 am 20 Jan 12

New Yeah said :

Hopefully the new owners cut the pub back down to a reasonable size (ditch the faux cocktail bar out the back) and put in a nice restaurant.

+1

p1 said :

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.

Indeed. With pints at ABN $8.50 not as many students would go these days. Good riddance says I.

Hopefully the new owners cut the pub back down to a reasonable size (ditch the faux cocktail bar out the back) and put in a nice restaurant.

I’d like a cosy live music venue and some independent shops, maybe some exotic immigrants to open a restaurant to make Lyneham jealous.

But hey, this is Canberra and the rent will be impossible to maintain by doing anything more interesting than laundering the coke money that started life as a Brumbies membership fee.

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!

A lot of vegetarians drink, in order to make up for missing nutrients. I will miss this place. Although it’s not one I use a lot, it’s nice to know it’s there if I’m feeling anaemic.

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…

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.

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.

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.

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!

Waiting For Godot5:06 pm 19 Jan 12

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.

Holden Caulfield2:48 pm 19 Jan 12

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.

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?

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

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’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]).

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.

Holden Caulfield11:45 am 19 Jan 12

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

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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

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….

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.

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….

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.

Now where are Raiders players going to urinate on people?

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

Suburban MKII?

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!

Holden Caulfield9:33 am 19 Jan 12

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!

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