Johnny's at Hilton Coliseum to expand and be renovated

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chuckd4735

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Minus the fact that on the biggest days of the year for bars and restaurants in Ames they wouldn't do any business. Calling it a dumb idea is putting it nicely. There's no easy access. There's nothing around it to get casual stops from people. In order to make any money they'd have to price students out and that's the majority of those who live in the immediate area.

While I fully acknowledge that it will never happen, if it were possible, it would be far from a dumb idea. You have low overhead (just employees and supplies) as you don't have rent, mortgage, or property taxes. Access is easy off of university and into Johnny's on the east side of Hilton. The issue you have is running a commercial establishment from a public property, which is why it won't work. If you were able to get past that point, it would be far from dumb. Johnny's inside of Hilton would be a nice draw, IMO.
 

Cy Hard

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Except for ******* off every restaurant in Ames, many of which are donors and advertisers to the Athletics program.
 

chuckd4735

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Except for ******* off every restaurant in Ames, many of which are donors and advertisers to the Athletics program.

That goes to the point of a public entity running a commercial business, which is why this won't ever happen.
 

ribsnwhiskey

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Does anyone have an update on how this is going? Any news on a final layout, and/or if they are going to have an open house for us lowlies to see it?

Its under construction now. I'll see if I can get a little more detailed info and post later.
 

alarson

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If i was going to place a year round restaurant into one of the ISU athletics facilities, id actually think it wouldve been better in the new SEZ than in Hilton. Much bigger space, parking closer to the entrance, etc. Really that area would work well at least for gamewatches and such even if not as a permanent restaurant.
 

Haverhill

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If i was going to place a year round restaurant into one of the ISU athletics facilities, id actually think it wouldve been better in the new SEZ than in Hilton. Much bigger space, parking closer to the entrance, etc. Really that area would work well at least for gamewatches and such even if not as a permanent restaurant.

I like this idea. Access would be easy and there is plenty of space. The Milwaukee Brewers have a "Fridays" restaurant in Miller Park. I went there for lunch on a Tuesday and it was packed. Ames isn't Milwaukee, but its not like there are dozens of other choices to compete against if they have a good product.
 

Cycsk

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Except for ******* off every restaurant in Ames, many of which are donors and advertisers to the Athletics program.


I was going to mention "The Iowa Stater" at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center as a counterpoint, but then I recognized that I don't remember ever seeing any local advertising for it and perhaps that is part of "getting along" with the restaurant owners/donors in the community.
 

Haverhill

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I was going to mention "The Iowa Stater" at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center as a counterpoint, but then I recognized that I don't remember ever seeing any local advertising for it and perhaps that is part of "getting along" with the restaurant owners/donors in the community.

With this logic, Iowa State shouldn't have a food court in the union, or dining centers.
 

CyDude16

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From a functionality stand point, It's an incredibly stupid idea. It doesn't have the space currently or the set up. the cost to make it that would be pretty large, and I wouldn't foresee them being able to make their money back in the off season, also I wouldn't trust the company that runs Johnnys to be able to run it properly.
 

IcSyU

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Johnny's inside of Hilton would be a nice draw, IMO.

The location would murder it. Know how much traffic there is on a weekend at that intersection compared to anything on Duff? The only people who care about Hilton are Cyclone fans and there aren't enough of them on the 340 days of the year there isn't a game to keep a restaurant afloat. Know how many restaurants survive without a bunch of weekend traffic? Next to none.

Cy's Locker Room would be a great thing in the end zone as well but guess why it won't go there? Location, location, location.

On paper they both sound like awesome ideas. Practically they are both terrible business ideas.
 

CyDude16

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While I fully acknowledge that it will never happen, if it were possible, it would be far from a dumb idea. You have low overhead (just employees and supplies) as you don't have rent, mortgage, or property taxes. Access is easy off of university and into Johnny's on the east side of Hilton. The issue you have is running a commercial establishment from a public property, which is why it won't work. If you were able to get past that point, it would be far from dumb. Johnny's inside of Hilton would be a nice draw, IMO.

Youd have a very large overhead because you'd had to make Johnnys functional to handle restaurant operations, which it isn't by any means.
 

IcSyU

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With this logic, Iowa State shouldn't have a food court in the union, or dining centers.
If you don't understand the difference between a dining center or other venues to feed staff and students who are generally time constrained and a restaurant being opened to compete with donors there is no helping you.
 

00clone

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Ahh, summertime on CF...the birds are chirping, the grass is green...people are arguing over hastily suggested ideas as if they're really important...

:wink:
 

Cy Hard

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The restaurant at the Gateway Hotel is a private enterprise and has nothing to do with Iowa State University, like wise the food court in the Union are privately held companies renting space from the University. Dining centers and dorms are requirements of a public State funded University and the causation there is just well...dumb.
 

chuckd4735

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The location would murder it. Know how much traffic there is on a weekend at that intersection compared to anything on Duff? The only people who care about Hilton are Cyclone fans and there aren't enough of them on the 340 days of the year there isn't a game to keep a restaurant afloat. Know how many restaurants survive without a bunch of weekend traffic? Next to none.

Cy's Locker Room would be a great thing in the end zone as well but guess why it won't go there? Location, location, location.

On paper they both sound like awesome ideas. Practically they are both terrible business ideas.

Traffic is good highway oriented commercial establishments, like fast food, gas stations, chains restaurants, etc. Other types of restaurants do not need to be located in higher traffic areas. For example, Wallaby's moved to a location with half the amount of traffic.

Youd have a very large overhead because you'd had to make Johnny's functional to handle restaurant operations, which it isn't by any means.

I admittedly have never been into Johnnys and don't know much about it. I guess i assumed based off the fact of it being brought up that it had kitchen facilities.
 

Cycsk

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The restaurant at the Gateway Hotel is a private enterprise and has nothing to do with Iowa State University, like wise the food court in the Union are privately held companies renting space from the University. Dining centers and dorms are requirements of a public State funded University and the causation there is just well...dumb.


It still strikes me as odd that The Iowa Stater has no sign on University Drive and does no local advertising (that I recall).

And the restaurant may be a private enterprise, but the hallway of ISU murals outside the restaurant would certainly suggest some tie-in.
 

chuckd4735

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It still strikes me as odd that The Iowa Stater has no sign on University Drive and does no local advertising (that I recall).

And the restaurant may be a private enterprise, but the hallway of ISU murals outside the restaurant would certainly suggest some tie-in.

The Gateway sign along University has the Iowa Stater on the sign.
 

Cycsk

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The Gateway sign along University has the Iowa Stater on the sign.


Really? I go by it almost every day and don't recall seeing it. Maybe they are doing other advertising too that I'm missing.
 

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