Post #266926 by GatorRob on Wed, Nov 15, 2006 12:55 PM

On 2006-11-15 10:33, Tom Slick wrote:
The biggest part in "saving" your local business is by becoming a regular patron and spreading the news of the wonderful place.

While I'm all in favor of supporting your local tiki bar, keep in mind that most of us don't have a local tiki bar to support. The Mai-Kai is 4 hrs away from me. I'm good to get there a few times a year. Call me a pessimist, but unless we all lived in the same city, I don't believe any level of patronage TC members can give to a particular establishment could keep it from going under if it was already on the brink. There simply aren't enough of us. We barely make a dent in their bottom line I suspect. I would think the only thing that can save a business from going under is the business itself. That's why tiki bars play hip-hop music. If they can't get the general public (not just us) through the doors, they're toast.

Dr. TikiMojo, I hear ya, and I'm totally in agreement with you with regards to saving historic places. Really I am. But I'm still very doubtful that it's in the best financial interests of the business owners, especially when the time comes to sell. If the Thorntons couldn't find a buyer for the Mai-Kai property because it was protected, we'd all be happy that the Mai-Kai property was saved. But would we all feel so good about it if the Thorntons went bankrupt as a result? I'm playing devil's advocate here. Asking the hard questions.