It’s not easy out there for bar operators. Double Deuce Lounge is looking for new digs, with trade being less than amazing at their Sydney CBD location (despite winning a bunch of awards over the last couple of years). Linden Pride and Neil Perry’s Bobbie’s — despite a gorgeous fit out and concept from the owner of Dante in New York (a former number one bar in the world) — was a flop for that neighbourhood, and they’ve ditched the name and retooled the concept into Bar Torino.
But as ever is the way, some bars might be struggling, but some are riding high — especially those backed by groups. Sydney behemoth Merivale is set to open its first bar in Melbourne, LB’s Record Bar, in the old Lily Black’s site tomorrow. It’ll be an agave-focused bar led by Michael and Zara Madrusan (Heartbreaker, The Everleigh). And it looks as though the last year or so hasn’t slowed the Swillhouse group in Sydney, with the opening of three new venues in a matter of weeks: a new restaurant, Barons; a jazz bar; and the reopening of Shady Pines Saloon in the old Now & Then site on Clarence Street last night.
It’s not only big groups getting new concepts open, though. Sakura House, the second bar from the duo behind The Waratah, Evan Stroeve and Cynthia Litster, opened last week in Sydney to rave reviews, and earlier in the year saw sophomore bars coming from the folks behind Otis (opening Deadwax in Enmore), and PS40 (with Silver’s Motel also opening in Enmore). That stretch of Enmore Road between Newtown and Enmore has proved especially fruitful this year, with one of my favourite bar debuts, Bar Demo, being opened by Oliver Churcher and Claudia Morgon.
Still, there are significant headwinds around for anyone opening a new bar, chief among them being the cost of booze.
“We can’t eat too many more CPI increases,” says Dre Walters in this week’s episode of Drinks At Work. We were speaking earlier in the year at the Better Bars Summit during Bartenders’ Weekender, with a live on stage SWOT analysis of sorts, looking at what makes his bars Old Love’s and Old Mate’s Place successful, but also — and crucially — looking at what he sees to be the threats to his business in the near future.
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And assuming that, despite his efforts and those of the Night Time Industries Association, the excise on booze isn’t coming down anytime soon, the cost of booze is of particular concern to Dre as he looks ahead.
“In five years’ time, you’re going to be paying $35, $40 a cocktail,” he says. This will no doubt have a negative effect on the way people spend in our bars, but also, he says, on the broader culture at large.
“Every city wants culture, every city wants a vibrant nightlife,” says Dre. “How to do that is to not charge people heaps of money. But we’ve got to pay rent. We’ve got staff to pay. We’ve got suppliers to pay.
“If you lose cocktail culture, if you lose that night out with friends, it impacts the community.”
Because at the end of the day, while Dre encourages people to open bars — it’s the best thing in the world, he says — it’s also a business with small profit margins and a lot of hard work required.
“You grind. You work a lot,” Dre says.
Below, lightly edited and condensed for clarity, I’ve got a few question and answers from the podcast with Dre, looking at the success of Old Mate’s Place, the big threats to the business, and his advice for people wanting to open a bar. But as always, it was a great chat with Dre, and I encourage you to give the full podcast a listen.
SAM BYGRAVE: What do you think the reason is for the success of Old Mate’s Place?
DRE WALTERS: Honestly, all we really do is try to give good service. For our drinks, we have this concept when we do menus, would you pay for that drink twice? If you would pay for that drink twice, that’s a good drink to go on the menu.
And then it comes down to service. It doesn’t really matter if anyone knows the difference between a Tuxedo #1 and #2, who cares? If you’ve got a pole stuck up your ass, you’re never gonna get that customer back. If you’re humble and you just show people a good time, that person’s gonna come back.
SAM BYGRAVE: What do you see as the big threats to your businesses out there?
DRE WALTERS: The CPI increases, that happens twice a year. I wanted to forecast and see what a cocktail was going to cost us in about five years, where are we going to be sitting in 10 years? We didn’t factor in wages going up, which is totally fair, rent going up, that’s just standard, fruit prices are going to go up. We didn’t factor any of that in. We factored in the simple price of alcohol and then forecasts up to 10 years. The scary fact was, and I don’t want to be all doom and gloom, but we need to be aware that in five years time, you’re going to be paying $35 to $40 a cocktail.
SAM BYGRAVE: What advice do you have for people thinking about their bars in 2025, potentially opening a bar or opening a second one? What are they going to be thinking about?
DRE WALTERS: For me, it always starts with rent. You start with that, the site you choose is the one thing that you start with. You don’t start with, how much is your security company going to cost you? How much are your speakers?
The rent is the biggest thing for me. And you’ve got to really forecast. If you’re not looking at how much [rent] is going to cost you in 10 years? If you have a lease that’s five years plus five years, or three years plus three years, whatever it is, do your math on that, figure out what you’re going to be paying later. Because if you can’t make it work in 10 years and that rent’s too high, then you’ve already signed a contract to fail.
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