Bar owners want Flames fans back on the ‘Red Mile’
Posted Jan 14, 2014 3:43 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Red Mile misses its Calgary Flames fans.
The abrupt closure of a 17th Avenue hotspot has many wondering about how well the hangouts in the area are doing.
Michael Brown, Owner of the Tilted Kilt, tells 660News, despite what you may have heard, they aren’t hurting, but business could always be better.
The strip earned its nickname, the Red Mile, during the Flames Stanley Cup playoff run in 2004, but lately it hasn’t lived up to its colour.
Brown says, bars on 17th Avenue depend to some extent on the Flames generating excitement for bar patrons.
If the team does better, they do better.
“We see more business for home games than away games, because there’s not a lot of interest in away games if they are still losing all the time, and unfortunately that might be the situation for a couple of years,” he said, “we as operators have to diversify.”
He adds, some of the best new restaurants and pubs are on 17th Avenue, but while the area has a lot to offer when it comes to entertainment, it’s hard to escape the ‘Red Mile’ reputation.
Nearby Melrose Cafe and Bar shut down unexpectedly over the weekend, and some speculate it was because revenue was falling.
Brown says although it’s always worrisome for tenants when a big draw on the strip moves away, it’s not fair to speculate why Melrose closed.
“I think a lot of people all of a sudden attribute it to sales, but it doesn’t necessarily always mean that. It could be lack of drive anymore, or passion for the business. There are lots of reasons it could close. I don’t think sales are as bad as people are trying to make it seem down there,” he said.
He says while it used to be much easier when the Flames made the playoffs every year, as a business you have to react and come up with a new game plan.
