Trader Vic's Update

I thought I would post a quick note to update everyone on the latest with the new Trader Vic's openings. Here's my most up-to-date info:

1. Bellevue, WA- Opening date is set for March 3rd!

2. Scottsdale, AZ- Opening date is set for May 21st!

(as you can imagine, those dates are subject to change without notice)

3. Las Vegas, NV- Still no opening date set, or management team in place. Should open by the end of 2006.

4. Chicago, IL- The Harry Caray people are scouting locations now, and they hope to open in 2006 if possible. Could move to 2007, but it's definitely coming back sooner rather than later.

5. Amman, Jordan- to open in 2006

6. Shanghai, China- to open in 2006. The Chinese franchisers have the rights to open five locations in China, and are already thinking about their next place.

2006 is going to be one hell of a year for Trader Vic's. When was the last time they opened six restaurants in one year? More info as I hear it.

Son of a B*%$#! You'd think there'd be one within a thousand miles of me...
(ok--934 miles of me)

Thanks for keeping us in the know Martiki! I'm still crossing my fingers for Dallas in the near future. I drove by the location last week...they're still working on the adjacent hotel-turned-condos(The Palomar)AND the TV building. The Palomar's web site STILL says TV is opening in June (?????).

*Amman, Jordan- to open in 2006 *

Whew, I been waiting on this one! Muscat, Beirut, Abu Dhabi...and then swing up to Amman. Col. T. E. midnite will go to Aqaba! Ok, circumstances beyond my control have suspended my plans to do a Mid-east expedition, but Munich Vic's is still a must-see (and can do) for me.

Good report, Al Martin. I eagerly await Scottsdale, and then Vegas...

See you all in Damascus,
Al midnite... prince of the desert, Lord to no one.

Looking forward to see what they do in Vegas.

Any word on the New York City location opening?

oh man.. i'll not be in Seattle for the grand opening of the TV..

but don't feel too sad for me ~ we'll be in Maui.

Yay - more Vics!

Cheers,
Gwen Smith

[ Edited by: gwenners 2006-01-10 22:05 ]

i love Trader Vics-- i get all my groceries there!!! Love that "Fearless FLyer" !

On 2006-01-08 20:02, RevBambooBen wrote:
Looking forward to see what they do in Vegas.

hope it will look better than the old Vegas Don The Beachcomber did! EEKS!

todays chicago trib article in metro talks of future of trader vics chicago....hans richter was on hand at the traders on monday, begining the process of removing all decor, which will be sent to san francisco for refurbishing then re-installed at the new river north location in chicago...basically, the new traders will look like the old one according to the article....also, bandits have already plundered the ship models, all mugs and glassware with trader vics logo on it, ALL table lamps, and drink decor, and all silverware(?).... so watch for a surge in trader vics stuff on ebay soon...the only thing not being removed are the huge chinese cooking pots that made vics food famous...they are too big to move and will be chopped up on site......check the chicago tribune website for the full article.

Here's the article...thanks Tipsy McStager.....

Venerable restaurant is just trading spaces
South Sea Island chic put Trader Vic's on the map, but now the artifacts must go

By Jon Anderson
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 10, 2006

Trader Vic's--a great place to drink, eat and carouse. But have you ever tried to move one of those things?

Take the stuff now sitting in the basement of the Palmer House Hilton--please!

Outrigger canoes, hanging from the ceiling. Giant sacred statues. Wood carvings, the size of a man. Monster clamshells. Room after room of heavy tables, carved from monkey wood. And a one-piece bar--a centerpiece for the last 48 years--that curves around a corner out of sight.

Not to forget the 4-foot-high, 4-foot-wide, wood-fired Chinese cooking pots.

On Monday, architects and engineers, looking toward the future, began preliminary work in the lower-level expanse that the 240-seat restaurant occupied in the hotel at 17 E. Monroe St. before it closed on New Year's Eve. They plan to convert it into retail space.

But there will be a whole lot of movin' and shakin' goin' on before that day comes.

"Many of the artifacts we will remove," Hans Richter said last week. The president and chief executive officer of the Trader Vic's chain, based in San Francisco, which has three dozen of the South Sea Islands restaurants around the world, was here to take inventory.

He was also here to muse as he motioned a reporter into the locked-up island retreat for a look-around.

"This was one of the oldest Trader Vic's," Richter said, settling into a booth by the bar, underneath a fierce-looking Japanese devil mask. "A lot of these items go back to the 1950s. The architect who designed this for us had a great sense of space. It was big--but it also had a sense of intimacy."

One thing that Richter plans to save is a stone penguin carved by Victor Bergeron, the original Trader Vic.

He is also negotiating with movers to box up the bar, the tables, the chairs, the clamshells, the masks, the statues and the outrigger canoes.

"We've got guys who can pack all that. Whatever somebody got in, we can get out," Steve Hrushocy, general manager of Salvage One, said Monday. His company, which crates and moves everything from limestone columns to ornamental lions, is negotiating for the moving contract.

The tide of change that hit the restaurant began last August when Thor Equities of New York purchased the Palmer House from Hilton Hotel Corp.

When word spread that the new owners planned to cancel their lease, "we reached out to them," Grant DePorter, president of Harry Carry's Restaurant Group, said Monday. The new Trader Vic's, in the River North area, will be roughly the same size, with much the same stuff, DePorter promised.

Artifacts will be shipped to San Francisco for refurbishing, though souvenir-hunters have cut down the load by stripping the restaurant of ship models, seashells, table silver, table lamps, drink decorations and almost every glass with a Trader Vic's label, Richter said.

What can't be saved is the old wallpaper, made from mulberry tree bark that is soaked, pounded and painted with vegetable juices.

And the fabled Chinese cooking pots, too bulky to move, will be chopped to bits.

Great news about Vic's Chicago. Sounds promising.

Sorry, still no Dallas or NYC.

I feel your pain man. Trader Vics Boston or Providence would be freakin' sweet! Though I'm looking forward to Trader Pappy's grand opening...

On 2006-01-08 15:18, pappythesailor wrote:
Son of a B*%$#! You'd think there'd be one within a thousand miles of me...
(ok--934 miles of me)

I've been to the one in Dallas, both as a kid when it was up and running, then again lately, a tour by the "hiltop" hotel owners.

What I would do for the carpet.

I will try to post a photo here.

Robert

anybody have news about beverly hlls? in a hotel development trade rag I read tonight It describes a MAJOR renovation to the hotel....no specifics on the restaurant...

Hmm... Bellevue is opening 3 days before my birthday. I might just have to consider a trip up there that weekend!

In the Middle East drinking alcohol is aginst the religion of about 95% of the people. So why do they have about a half dozen Trader Vics with in one days drive and don't have any.

It is just not fair.

P.S. I you build a Trader Vics near my house I will do my best to make sure it is profitable.

On 2006-01-20 22:00, inkylouise wrote:
anybody have news about beverly hlls? in a hotel development trade rag I read tonight It describes a MAJOR renovation to the hotel....no specifics on the restaurant...

I don't remember the LA Times article referencing Trader Vics or the hotel. This article is ambiguous - check out the last paragraph.

http://www.looksmartstocks.com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_50_27/ai_n15976558

[ Edited by: aisling222 2007-06-26 09:39 ]

...I'll race ya to the bar!!!!!!

On 2006-01-25 21:07, captnkirk wrote:
In the Middle East drinking alcohol is aginst the religion of about 95% of the people. So why do they have about a half dozen Trader Vics with in one days drive and don't have any.

I was speaking with the manager of TV in Oman and apparently people flock across the border to have a drink at TVs.
Their drink of choice.... the Tiki Puka Puka, yes apparently they sell more of them than anyone else, then get back in their cars and back across the border.