Longtime downtown bar closes

A downtown Springfield bar known for its frozen cocktails has shuttered after two decades in business.

Tropical Liqueurs co-owner John Russell said the business at 420 S. Campbell Ave., Ste. 100, closed Jan. 12.

"Business just hasn't been the same since the pandemic," Russell said this morning. "We've been struggling to make ends meet."

Russell noted that because of its impending closure, Tropical Liqueurs did not reapply for its liquor license after it recently expired.

Russell said he owns the Springfield bar with Alan Dodds. With his mom, Dodds also operates two locations in Columbia, said Russell, and there's also a Tropical Liqueurs franchise in St. Louis.

The owners plan to seek out new tenants for the Tropical Liqueurs commercial property they own at the corner of Campbell Avenue and Pershing Street.

"Hopefully, someone will rent it out," Russell said. "Right now, I've got a lot of work to do to get 20 years' worth of stuff out of there."

The Greene County assessor's filing for the property points to ownership by Dodds Holding LLC, with apartments helping to round out roughly 12,500 square feet.

Tropical Liqueurs, aka Trops, announced the closure in a Facebook post yesterday.

Russell and Dodds opened the bar in 2004 after Dodds' parents started the concept in Columbia in 1985, according to Springfield Business Journal archives. The Springfield bar has operated in the same spot for the extent of its years in business.