Tomahawks Smokehouse and Saloon in Jefferson is closed. According to club owner Randall Harris, several factors contributed to the closing, including the economy, difficulty in shaking the bar's rowdy biker reputation and trouble competing with Tri-State Casino & Resort.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Tomahawks Smokehouse and Saloon in Jefferson is closed.
According to club owner Randall Harris, several factors contributed to the closing, including the economy, difficulty in shaking the bar's rowdy biker reputation and trouble competing with Tri-State Casino & Resort.
"It's been an interesting run," Harris said Wednesday. "We certainly tried."
The club closed Sunday night. The club had planned to reopen Wednesday, after a scheduled break following the Halloween weekend, but Harris said he and the managers decided to close permanently.
Final paychecks were handed out to employees Wednesday afternoon.
Harris said he spent thousands remodeling the club, improving the kitchen and dining area, as well as bringing in live entertainment, including David Allan Coe and Bucky Covington. While Tomahawks worked to rehabilitate its rough image and expand the clientele, the club ran into trouble.
On Oct. 12, several days in advance of Coe's appearance, Tomahawks was burglarized. Thieves stole a safe containing $7,000 and tickets printed for the show, causing Harris a problem determining who had paid for the show and who hadn't.
"In the end, it was just more than we could handle," Harris said. "In about eight months we had it. We only got above breaking even about 40 percent of the time."
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Tomahawks Smokehouse and Saloon in Jefferson is closed.
According to club owner Randall Harris, several factors contributed to the closing, including the economy, difficulty in shaking the bar's rowdy biker reputation and trouble competing with Tri-State Casino & Resort.
"It's been an interesting run," Harris said Wednesday. "We certainly tried."
The club closed Sunday night. The club had planned to reopen Wednesday, after a scheduled break following the Halloween weekend, but Harris said he and the managers decided to close permanently.
Final paychecks were handed out to employees Wednesday afternoon.
Harris said he spent thousands remodeling the club, improving the kitchen and dining area, as well as bringing in live entertainment, including David Allan Coe and Bucky Covington. While Tomahawks worked to rehabilitate its rough image and expand the clientele, the club ran into trouble.
On Oct. 12, several days in advance of Coe's appearance, Tomahawks was burglarized. Thieves stole a safe containing $7,000 and tickets printed for the show, causing Harris a problem determining who had paid for the show and who hadn't.
"In the end, it was just more than we could handle," Harris said. "In about eight months we had it. We only got above breaking even about 40 percent of the time."
Under the current environment, he says, it was really a situation where there are too many things trying to attract too few dollars.
Harris also believes Tomahawks may not be the only bar or restaurant in the Charleston area that could close in the months to come.
"I've spoken to other club owners," he said. "We all compete, but we talk to each other, and everybody is hurting. Discretionary spending is down, and to be honest, as hard as we had it, we were doing better than others."
He thinks all local clubs are suffering to one degree or another because of Tri-State casino.
"When they can give away motorcycles and cars, how can you compete? You can't, not head-on."
Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.
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Sorry to see Tomahawk's close!