Maybe you read in the paper, or right here in my blog, that FlagandBanner.com is downsizing its first-floor showroom in the Taborian Hall to make room for something new: a lounge serving cocktails and coffee. If you hadn’t heard yet, now you have. It’s official!
I’ve just returned from Atlanta, where I purchased a stunning 24-foot Art Deco bar. This beauty once lived in a Mafia-run bar in Cicero, Illinois, and now she’s headed for Little Rock.
If it seems like every entrepreneur dreams of opening a restaurant or bar, you’re not wrong. For me, it’s been a lifelong dream. I still fondly remember my younger days, where I supplemented my income by waiting tables at Cheers restaurant, and where I also happened to meet my husband, Grady.
Now, years later, that dream is tugging at me again. Grady thinks I’m crazy to take on yet another project, and he has tried, to no avail, to dissuade me. But I have “plead my case” and he reluctantly caved even conceding he likes the bar’s name I’m concidering, “Kerry Lou’s”, a nod to my mother; her pet name for me.
My Case for Kerry Lou’s
- I need a new project to stay happy.
- Grady cannot deny that I have a hard time sitting and watching TV in the evening.
- The Dreamland Ballroom needs its own bartenders and eventually a kitchen to cater for guests.
- Even though I like to cook, it seems inefficient to cook for two people every night, and this bar can grow into a restaurant later, where I can dine after work.
- The Hall across the street draws concert crowds of people who may want to party up before or after a concert.
- I have learned, no matter what the business, to invest when the market is down, and right now, good bars and restaurants are down.
- Fullfilling a dream. Years ago, I wrote about visiting the New York theatre district and how having dinner and a night cap after the show was part of the experience. Since then, I’ve dreamed of offering the same experience to Little Rock’s theatre patrons.
- FulIfilling a commitment. It will bring Taborian Hall full circle with retail and restaurants on the first floor, office space on the second floor, and event center in the Dreamland Ballroom on the third floor,
- And finally, ladies, you’ll appreciate this; as an added carrot I borrowed a strategy from the past popular book, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: never underestimate the power of “promised sex.”
I can’t say which argument finally worked (probably that last one), but this week Grady and I flew to Atlanta to explore antique bars at Red Baron’s Antiques. The warehouse was filled with massive, breathtaking pieces. As we rounded the corner and the staff began pulling back the tarp on the bar I’d seen online, I held my breath.
When she was revealed, I nearly wept. She was more beautiful than her picture—and I knew I had found her, and that I am on the right track.
About the Author
Kerry McCoy founded FlagandBanner.com in 1975 with just $400 and a dream, building it from door-to-door flag sales into a multi-million dollar enterprise. With over five decades in the American flag and banner business, her insights into patriotic trends and flag sales patterns come from serving customers nationwide during times of celebration, crisis, and everything in between.
Kerry is also the host of “Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy” radio show and continues expanding her business empire through Kerry McCoy Enterprises while sharing the entrepreneurial wisdom gained from decades of building the American dream.
