Whats going on with Gopher game day locale Sally's? Place hasn't progressed in months

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El Amin Fan

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I remember walking by Sally's early in football season thinking it was going to be open by the end of the season. I went by it a week or so ago and literally nothing has changed on the inside. I assume the financing dried up or something? It's weird that a high profile location would just stop the build out like that. Looking in, literally the ladders and equipment is in the same spot it was in 4 months ago.
 

I noticed that also. I wonder what is going on with the interior as they have been hosting gameday events for the Vikings/Gophers outside between the buildings. Would be interesting to find out what is going on there.
 

El Amin Fan said:
I remember walking by Sally's early in football season thinking it was going to be open by the end of the season. I went by it a week or so ago and literally nothing has changed on the inside. I assume the financing dried up or something? It's weird that a high profile location would just stop the build out like that. Looking in, literally the ladders and equipment is in the same spot it was in 4 months ago.
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According to their Facebook site they have been hiring staff this month. No mention of an opening date.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sallys-Saloon/107709549290861
 

A little birdy told me financing issues. One of the lenders pulled the plug a while back. They are confident things will get done by next fall. Tough to make it these days on college campuses when drinking age is 21, and your don't have franchise deep pockets.
 

LesBolstad said:
A little birdy told me financing issues. One of the lenders pulled the plug a while back. They are confident things will get done by next fall. Tough to make it these days on college campuses when drinking age is 21, and your don't have franchise deep pockets.
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I thought the owner's also own the various Cowboy Jacks. So not a big outfit by any standard but this isn't some one-shot group with little experience in the industry.
 


BJN said:
I thought the owner's also own the various Cowboy Jacks. So not a big outfit by any standard but this isn't some one-shot group with little experience in the industry.
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Right, and many franchise operators are little guys with thin pockets. Not sure I believe that the CJ crew is tougher to fund than a BWW franchisee.
 

golden boy said:
Right, and many franchise operators are little guys with thin pockets. Not sure I believe that the CJ crew is tougher to fund than a BWW franchisee.
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Basically, it comes down to one thing. Cashflow. Can a business/person meet the payment obligations. You can have a decent amount of collateral, but if you can not show that the payments can be made through cash flow analysis (done for the vast majority of small businesses, agriculture included, unless they have cash up the wazoo), a client isn't going to get the loan.

I would think whoever is financing it would look at the borrowers other business lines and how they are incorporated (I.E., if the company is ABC Foods INC or whatever) to ensure that the new debt/payments could fit in to their cash flow statements. It is really up to the customer/client to prove they can pay for the note.
 

BJN said:
I thought the owner's also own the various Cowboy Jacks. So not a big outfit by any standard but this isn't some one-shot group with little experience in the industry.
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Yep - it's these folks: http://theaftermidnightgroup.com/
All the Cowboy Jack's and the Cabooze.

The previous owner sold it off to them and opened up the Clive's Roadhouse restaurants (Blaine and Champlin so far).
 

Not sure what is going on, but I doubt it's a money issue. They have loads of it...
 



Too bad. I was looking forward to a pregame there next fall. I hope they move forward.
 

XMan said:
Too bad. I was looking forward to a pregame there next fall. I hope they move forward.
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Sally's was our pregame spot, too, and I miss it. But without the parking lot, what's the point? They had something going in the street for Viking games, but the new, tall building kept it all in the shade.
 

Hates Monikers said:
Sally's was our pregame spot, too, and I miss it. But without the parking lot, what's the point? They had something going in the street for Viking games, but the new, tall building kept it all in the shade.
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I agree. I also enjoyed the outdoor area at the 'old' Sally's before games. I just enjoyed Sally's in general do to how much I would frequent it during my college years not that long ago (2008 grad).
 




I know someone who would definitely be aware of the situation, and I was told they were making progress months ago, only to have city and county inspectors come in and tell them much of what they did was wrong, and they had to tear everything out and start over in a lot of respects. It was, as I was told, "one of those things they thought they could get away with," but they didn't, and so had to re-do much of what they had done before.

For what it's worth, I walk by there quite often, and noticed the other night they had illuminated signs in the window for the first time, and in looking in the windows, it looks like there is some progress being made. I'm not a Sally's patronizer and haven't been in the past, but I don't think it's financially based, and I think it will be open in due time. Basically, sounds like it was their own fault they weren't open much sooner, frankly.
 

If it's new ownership, a different location, and different employees, is it still Sally's?

Sounds like George Washington's axe, to me.
 


The failure of Sally's to reopen reminds me a lot of Ahern's Irish Pub. It was supposed to open near Target Field in 2010. The owners were a big sponsor of Gopher Football in 2010 with program and scoreboard ads that must have been paid for in advance because they ran even though the place wasn't open. Ahern's Facebook and Twitter account remained active and promised "more news soon", but nothing came of it. The place sat half finished and unopened for over a year until, ironically, Cowboy Jack's took the spot. The Ahern's owners were part of The Melting Pot on Nicollet Mall and ran into financing issues among other problems.
 

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