Up for Another Round

After two years of searching for the perfect space, the owners of Big Whiskey’s American Bar and Grill have found a south-side location.

Big Whiskey’s 3 LLC negotiated for a five-year lease with Fuldner Properties LLC for 4,700 square feet at 1440 W. Republic Road, the site of the recently closed Indigo Joe’s Sports Pub and Restaurant, said Big Whiskey’s co-owner Paul Sundy. The partners behind the south-side restaurant – The Auto Specialists owner Jame Clark and original Big Whiskey’s owners Sundy, Michael Heslin and Randy Gildehaus –  are planning a significant front-of-the-house remodel for the eatery and are targeting an August opening, Sundy said.

“It’s still in the design phase, and we hope to do some demo in the next week or two,” he said. “The goal is to open as fast as possible, but the No. 1 goal is to do it right.”

For Clark, the newest addition to the Big Whiskey’s family, it was the group’s track record that enticed him to join as a co-owner, even though he’s sold cars to all three and has been friends with Heslin since seventh grade.

“I know how they operate, and they know how to run a business and a restaurant,” he said.

Focus on food
Renovation designs call for enclosing the patio, a revamped entrance and a private room that can be rented out for parties, Sundy said. And while the restaurant will have the same name and menu as the original Big Whiskey’s, opened in July 2006 at 311 Park Central East, it will be more of a reflection of the second Big Whiskey’s, opened in Little Rock, Ark. in late 2008.

The Little Rock eatery has stronger food sales than the original downtown Springfield location, and Sundy said he expects higher food sales at the south-Springfield restaurant.

Clark said the Republic Road location’s layout, with a bigger kitchen, will lend itself to an increased focus on food.

“It gives us an opportunity to really expand on letting people know how good the food is,” he said.

While Sundy declined to estimate how much of the downtown restaurant’s sales were bar versus food sales, he said overall sales have started to pick up in 2010. First year sales, he estimated, were about $1.1 million and he’s expecting 2010 sales to come in around $1.3 million.

“The other store is a different beast,” he said, declining to disclose expectations for the south-side restaurant’s first year.

More than anything, a south-side Big Whiskey’s will enable Big Whiskey’s to tap into a customer base that doesn’t often make its way to downtown Springfield.

“I’ve talked with a lot of people who have heard of Big Whiskey’s and say they want to try it, but they haven’t been in yet, mainly because of the drive,” said Gildehaus.

So long, Joe, hello Chicago
While the partners of Big Whiskey’s are excited to talk about their new venture, the closing of the business formerly located at their Republic Road site has been a quiet affair. According to previous SBJ coverage, the Indigo Joe’s Sports Pub franchise opened in June 2006 under the ownership of Joe Blasingim.

According to Secretary of State filings, Indigo Joe’s was owned by JB Restaurants LLC. In March, JB Restaurants filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Calls to the Blasingim home and Indigo Joe’s corporate office were not returned by press time. Kurt Bieter, owner and manager of the Indigo Joe’s franchise in Wildwood, near St. Louis, was unaware the Springfield franchise closed and said there was no relationship between the two stores.

Sundy, meanwhile, is in growth mode, with no plans to slow down once the Republic Road Big Whiskey’s opens. He, Jay Hickman – one of his partners in Springfield’s Parlor 88 – and a silent partner have plans to open a Parlor 88 in Chicago this fall.

The group is leasing space within a block of Millennium Park on Michigan Avenue, he said.

“It’s so expensive to go to Chicago. It’s the scariest lease I’ve ever signed,” he said, though he declined to say how much rent would cost.

Like the south-side Big Whiskey’s, the Chicago venture is just a natural progression, Sundy said.

“We feel like we have a good brand,” he said. “It will work in most markets, if we’re consistent.”[[In-content Ad]]