My Friday night Venue was bought by new owners

[Loneavenger]

So, a couple weeks ago i found out that my Friday night karaoke gig of almost 3 years has been bought by new owners. They changed the name of the place but luckily they scoped us out ( without us even knowing we were auditioning ) and realized they needed to keep us there, so we didn't even miss a single week in the transition 2 weeks ago.

Now here's the catch , they let go 2 of the really popular bartenders, a lot of the regular staff and brought in a lot of new people transferred in from other restaurants they own. So 2 weeks ago it was mostly new faces working the bar, and as a result this past Friday at Karaoke was the slowest Friday night we've EVER had.

Now granted, the new owners aren't upset at all , they know that with a transition there's a good chance we'll have to rebuild, but honestly there's a lot of people upset with the new owners and a lot of our regulars just don't want to accept change. Has anyone else experienced anything like this before and do you have any suggestions?

 

[DannyGKaraoke]

A buddy of mine had the same thing happened but they never skipped a beat. The customers just went with the flow. I inherited the show when my buddy moved away and worked there two years before there was a stabbing on one of the nights I didn't work.

 

[possumdog]

We have had that over and over again due to small town drama and volatile owners. Every time the owner would fire a bartendress, there would be resentment and a boycott and we would have to build again. Most people would eventually filter back in but you still take the hit while that is happening. But in one case, we actually got a BETTER bartendress and after the initial transisiton, which even resulted in outright rudeness to her, we have done better than ever.

People will miss having those people who made them feel known and comfortable. Until that process happens with the new staff, the owners could try drink giveaways or raffles and special promotions to keep people there while the "bonds" re-establish. I hope someone else on here comes up with something better because that is one of the things that frustrates us--there are so many aspects of a show's success that one doesn't have control over and venue staff is a big one.

 

[JoeChartreuse]

In almost every business, a new owner will evenually replace the old staff. You must have made a helluva impression!

In my experience, as soon as people get used to the new faces - as long as they are good at what they do - the patrons will start returning in force.

It would be helpful if YOU did a bit of extra promoting on your own, though....

 

[Loneavenger]

It would be helpful if YOU did a bit of extra promoting on your own, though....

This is what i thought also but i'll tell you what happened. The place is a Mexican restaurant, and since the new owners took over it is the best Mexican food i've ever eaten. Me and my brothers are literally hooked on this food already, I put up on facebook that they have the best Mexican food i've ever eaten and i woke up today to 36 hateful bashing messages about how they screwed over so many people. I deleted the entire thread, just ridiculous.

 

[possumdog]

That is what always makes us dread when we hear someone was let go. While we want to move forward and can't take sides, we still don't want to appear callous toward the plight of those who worked with us and were the friends of our mutual patrons. Otherwise we become part of what the backlash is against. That is why it is important for the new owners to take the lead in promoting the things that are changing while the show is the thing they know and can rely on.

The other thing is, we have had fired employees get jobs at other venues and recommend us to their new place. So it is a delicate situation--maybe because we are in a small town. But we can't be dancing on the graves of the fired while celebrating the new. Have to tip toe a bit at first.