Hamilton’s popular student bar to close
A well-known student bar is the latest of the Lawrenson Group’s empire to succumb to a downturn in Hamilton CBD’s hospitality.
Bar 101 Hamilton will host its last hurrah on September 15 after 10 years in Hamilton’s CBD.
The closure is part of a wider restructure of the Lawrenson Group’s 16 establishments after a sharp downturn in business this year.
The group’s multiple awardwinning restaurant Victoria St Bistro will also close in September.
Lawrenson Group chief executive John Lawrenson said the Bar 101 closure was part of adapting to an evolving hospitality scene.
Casual dining tend to be preferred over clubs or fine dining among most locals.
‘‘Ten years ago before Facebook and Tinder if you wanted to see what people were doing ... You had to go town.
‘‘Now you just jump on Facebook.’’ And as the end of leases approach for some of the CBD’s bars and restaurants, hard decisions have had to made, Lawrenson said.
Another Lawrenson Group closure is expected to be announced over the next couple of weeks.
For a while, the group’s clubs and pubs performing well had been propping up those not making any money, Lawrenson said.
‘‘In the current climate we don’t really want to keep doing that.’’
The ANZ business outlook for July showed a net 45 per cent of businesses were pessimistic about the general outlook for the economy.
But he’s not ruling out reopening Bar 101 somewhere else in the future.