Hard Rock Café–St. Louis offers indoor and outdoor dining, seating 270 and also features a performance stage. The restaurant is 9,200 square feet and is medium in size compared to other Hard Rock Cafés. “Our average size is 7,500 to 12,000 square feet. The smallest is in Aspen, Colo., measuring 3,500 square feet; our largest venue in the world is in Orlando, Fla., and is 140,000 square feet,” he notes.
Berk explains that when the company analyzes a location, it expects a 15 percent return on the capital employed, and “we have far exceeded that in St Louis. Our revenues are dramatically higher than our expectations.”
Hard Rock Café owns and/or franchises a worldwide network of 102 Hard Rock Cafés in 36 countries. The original Hard Rock Café opened June 1971 in London’s Hyde Park across from Buckingham Palace. The world-famous eatery is known for its classic American food and signature logo merchandise in an upbeat atmosphere with non-stop pulsating music and videos in a music memorabilia-packed setting.
The chain claims the world’s largest rock memorabilia collection with 54,000 items. In particular, the St. Louis location has about 350 original items, which are taken down, reconditioned and rotated every five years.
And why did they pick St. Louis? “Why not,” he quips. “It is a city with a cultural identity, a focus on rebuilding, a strong musical heritage and a great critical mass. For us it was an easy decision,” Berk says.
The newest arrival to the St. Louis region is Dave & Buster’s. “We chose St. Louis because it is one of America’s all time great cities, it’s right up there with New York, San Francisco and Chicago,” says Dennis Paine, vice president of communications. “Everyone came back from the opening raving about it; we kicked off with record first week volumes.”
Dave & Buster’s, which opened its new $15 million complex at Riverport in June 1999, is a Dallas-based entertainment complex chain with a unique concept combining food and drink, high-tech interactive games and other leisure activities. The chain was founded in 1982, and the restaurant in St. Louis is its 20th U.S. location. Dave & Buster’s also has two international locations in the United Kingdom.
They chose the Riverport location because they “like to go into highly visible, highly accessible areas,” he says. Another consideration was their space requirements. The 57,000-square-foot entertainment complex is located on an eight-acre site.
So far, results are promising. “An average store does in excess of $700,000 and turns a revenue of $13.2 million,” Paine notes. “St. Louis will be right on target or slightly better. We expect St. Louis to be one of our strongest stores—right up there with our top three or four.”
One of the largest pieces of their business, corporate events, is already booming. “From the time of our opening through the end of the year, we have 183 parties that have either already occurred or are pending,” says Tim Bonesteel, special events sales manager at Dave & Buster’s in St. Louis. “And, we have some dates in December that are already gone. We have as many as 14 parties booked on one day.”
According to Paine, the private party business accounts for 13 to 15 percent of Dave & Buster’s total revenue. “We have parties that range from 30 to 2,000 people. Some companies buy the place for a day. We even do product introductions. It is a terrific alternative to a hotel, because we offer entertainment, too.”
And none of these national chains seem to be the least bit bothered by competition from one another or even from existing establishments. “Competition is good in any marketplace, because it forces a company to stay focused and continue to offer the best service and food quality possible,” Earl says. “We can hold our own against anything around,” Berk says confidently.
The addition of these venues to the St. Louis region brings jobs and tourism to the region, spurring further economic development. Berk’s mantra sums up the situation, “St. Louis rocks.”
