Post #641378 by tiki1963 on Fri, Jun 22, 2012 1:15 PM

Ya know, when I hear mention of the "corporate Trader Vic's" style, I can only think it's one of the main contributors to these closings.

I LOVE Trader Vic's and fortunately, am a huge collector of it's trappings. I support the company and want them to do really well.

I do believe that the corporate management does not quite understand what makes Vic's so special.

Hearing this news gives me fears about TV's LA Live location. It seems to also be teetering on the precipice of closure. I'll go into specifics in a second.

This 'corporate' approach is a middle-of-the-road compromise to satisfy what they think is the 'general public' taste. Not too tiki, not too specific, not too defined. You are definitely NOT transported to an exotic fantasy. It's a general, non-threatening blandness that you find in mid-range chain hotels. If you are serving a middle-of-the-road experience with middle-of-the-road drinks and middle-of-the-road food, I guess that is a sound strategy. The problem I have with the way Vic's is doing their new restaurants is that Trader Vic's is historically, not middle-of-the-road. It's a very defined experience with a choice to go after a very specific clientele. (And I'm not just talking about the Tiki-Central fan base). The newer locations seem to water down what makes TV's special while still holding onto some of the class that separates it from Olive Garden, etc. Generally, a mixed message is read as a mixed message and the inability to find an audience is the outcome. I believe that is what's happening to hasten these closures.

When TV's announced a location in LA Live, I thought it was a really bad idea. I'm sure there were perks from the developer that made it easier for the owners, but the very nature of that venue is sorta against what Vic's is about. I've gone there many times to find the place basically empty only to walk around the corner and find Yard House jammed packed. Sportsheadz want beer...cheap beer and a loud environment to scream at a wall of flat-screens. They don't want Pu-pu platters, they don't want tea smoked duck and they don't want $12 cocktails, no matter how well done they are.

The more TV's wants to bend to these temptations, the less likely they are going to find a crowd.

Recently, I've been there a few times only to discover that more and more, the management is rolling on its belly to entice the sportsheadz. The flat-screens are in your face at the bar, they've done a major-TV's no-no and added a huge, ugly beer tap right in front of your face, blocking your view of the bartenders and the class set up of booze and glassware behind the bar and most importantly, they've cut Hawaiian music for 60s-80s pop...throughout the restaurant and into the dining room.

Now, the high quality food and drinks are the same, the prices are the same higher prices, but the experience is becoming 'Yard House-light'. I can tell you, this is no strategy to stay in business. They'll put off the clientele that wants a TV's experience and they'll just look like a pathetic wanna-be to the sports crowd that thinks it's still too pricey.

It's kinda like your grandfather pretending to like hip-hop to fit in with the kids...funny, but off putting.

Now, I do think if Vic's had made more of a statement in decor, embraced what makes Vic's a special destination, a place to be as opposed to middle-of-the-road corporate fare and most important, picked a location where the type of clientele would embrace that experience and can afford to pay a premium for it (say, central downtown LA), it wouldn't be struggling so.

I guess what I'm saying is these closures are their own fault and in my opinion, not an 'economy thing'. There's plenty of mid-to-higher-end restaurants doing very well in this economy.

I just don't think a watered-down Trader Vic's is going to get a foothold in that or really, any market.

I really hope they wake up.