CasaBar is for Sale

Anyone want to partner up? I heard doing business in Argentina is a lot of fun.
 
Yeah. By many accounts he's a bit unstable. Had a partner at one time, don't know if that went away or if he just went silent, or what.
 
ElQueso said:
Yeah. By many accounts he's a bit unstable. Had a partner at one time, don't know if that went away or if he just went silent, or what.

Thanks ElQueso for the info.

I never hung out at these expat type of bars or places.

I can't even imagine dealing with the food or beverage industry where it's all cash and the potential for employees to rob you blind are high!

Even in a corporate environment it was tough enough but no thanks in that industry.

I do have some friends that own some bars in BA and they seem to be doing ok (or at least still in business after several years) which is a good sign I guess.

But one thing I didn't get is most of them spent lots of money on a renovation of some building and they didn't own it but did a fairly short multi-year lease. I never understood the motivation of that as I figure the owner will take advantage of them when their lease is up.

What ever happened to that American guy that owned that burrito company. Is it still around? Someone told me a while ago that knew him that he was so anxious to sell it. Judging by his website it looks like he did. Good for him!

I didn't think there could be much profit there after rent, employee salaries/lawsuits, etc.
 
does anyone know if it just the bar (business) that is for sale, or the land as well?
 
Without being able to present this as fact, I've been told by a couple of reliable sources who supposedly know this (and I believe them) that the Casa Bar business itself is leasing the place in which it does business. In fact, I was told that they had spent quite a bit of cash remodeling the place, which can be questionable if you don't own the building. I've heard of people being screwed over when they make significant improvements in the place and then get the rent raised to uncomfortable levels at the end of the contract. My understanding was the contract was a standard 3 year commercial lease, but again, I can't confirm it as truth.

Therefore, as the ad was presented, it wouldn't be the building or space, I don't think.

I know the guys (acquainted with one, have met the other) who own another expat bar in town (edge of Recoleta as well) that is very popular with the college crowd, who are leasing their building, but on understanding with the building owner (expat - I'm acquainted with the owner) that there will be plenty of notice of any kind of change in terms. They have done some work, but basically left it close to the original condition.

They do a good business. They don't cater to expats (which I also don't think is a good market in Buenos aires) but rather to college kids who outnumber young partying expats by orders of magnitudes and are plentiful in the area.

Casa Bar is quite a bit more stylish, upscale, I would think is targeted more for local and visiting working adults and some of the younger crowd. When it first opened, I went there a couple of times with buddies to watch a football game and it was OK. It was fairly crowded in those occasions. A year or two later I went back once or twice and it wasn't very crowded. Don't know if that's significant or coincidence.

I think the other guys' business model is more successful though. They deal a lot with local crap from police and government inspectors, but the money is well worth it. If you have the volume and run the business smart, following the money, you can certainly make a killing here. Just depends on whether or not you want to deal with it.
 
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