After 5 Years Jimmy's Honolulu Restaurant is Closing.

[ASaltyPieceOfLand]

Just wondering - does anyone know anyone that has purchased either of these? The "$799 hammock and $159 penny loafers"?

Would Jimmy Buffett buy a $865 or so after tax hammock? HELL NO!

There seems to somewhat be a common theme in the comments about this whole thing having gone too far with the age group of a lot of the fans, which was sort of said in the NYTimes article recently:

While Mr. Buffett’s fan base includes young people — drunkenly singing along to “Margaritaville” in a college bar is practically an American rite of passage — his core followers are baby boomers. How does Margaritaville make itself more relevant to people in their 30s? What fuels sales of those licensed products once Mr. Buffett, 69, has warbled his last warble?

It’s a subject that Mr. Cohlan, who is Margaritaville’s chief executive, was not especially keen to discuss.

As a fan I don't care what he does so much outside of the music (although it is baffling sometimes), I'm just into the music and the books and have mainly t-shirts and a couple of hats from tours long ago back when it mattered (from what I've seen of his shirts on the past few tours they look generic as hell, with no sense of artistic geography) and the only things I've gotten from a Margaritaville store outside of a record or book has been some post cards and one or two calendars. I get the appeal of some of the... stuff but it's not like having a Margaritaville blender is going to make "it" more authentic.

As bad as some of the songs have been going back to 1994 (there's been at least one really bad song on almost every album since) I don't hesitate to buy his new albums - because I know there will always be a gem or two on it and that's fine. If I was strictly concerned with everything sounding like any of his 1970s albums I wouldn't bother.

His idea of staying off the beaten path when going to places is pretty much how I travel. Yet he's done the exact opposite of that with giving people the touristy silly named bar and restaurants that can be found from Pensacola to Destin etc with putting a Margaritaville in places that don't always make sense. How is having a Margaritaville in Chicago better than someone from Chicago going to, say, Miami and going to local places? Well of course it's good for Margaritaville. In the long run it probably isn't. The second Margaritaville restaurant is closed. Other than nostalgia, there's zero reason to have one in New Orleans (and really, it doesn't deserve to be in the French Quarter, where you have to have actual good food to survive these days).

How in the hell is a Margaritaville a "destination place" or whatever? Perhaps he could have expanded the 'brand' and had some different names other than Margaritaville. He sort of did. With one place. In A Pirate Looks At Fifty he talks about places with silly names and one of the names he mentions is Beachcomber.

Imagine that.

There are a lot of names he could use elsewhere that possibly wouldn't tire the brand name out so much: Tire Swing, Tin Cup Chalice, Nautical Wheelers, Dreamsicle, Boat Drinks, hell, Fins would've made a great bar name; Incommunicado, Last Mango, First Look, even Floridays could work.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/busin ... mpire.html

Here's an article about Jimmy Buffet's items to be auctioned off from the Beachcomber... http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news ... er-in.html

[palmettopirate]

Just wondering - does anyone know anyone that has purchased either of these? The "$799 hammock and $159 penny loafers"?

Would Jimmy Buffett buy a $865 or so after tax hammock? HELL NO!

There seems to somewhat be a common theme in the comments about this whole thing having gone too far with the age group of a lot of the fans, which was sort of said in the NYTimes article recently:

While Mr. Buffett’s fan base includes young people — drunkenly singing along to “Margaritaville” in a college bar is practically an American rite of passage — his core followers are baby boomers. How does Margaritaville make itself more relevant to people in their 30s? What fuels sales of those licensed products once Mr. Buffett, 69, has warbled his last warble?

It’s a subject that Mr. Cohlan, who is Margaritaville’s chief executive, was not especially keen to discuss.

As a fan I don't care what he does so much outside of the music (although it is baffling sometimes), I'm just into the music and the books and have mainly t-shirts and a couple of hats from tours long ago back when it mattered (from what I've seen of his shirts on the past few tours they look generic as hell, with no sense of artistic geography) and the only things I've gotten from a Margaritaville store outside of a record or book has been some post cards and one or two calendars. I get the appeal of some of the... stuff but it's not like having a Margaritaville blender is going to make "it" more authentic.

As bad as some of the songs have been going back to 1994 (there's been at least one really bad song on almost every album since) I don't hesitate to buy his new albums - because I know there will always be a gem or two on it and that's fine. If I was strictly concerned with everything sounding like any of his 1970s albums I wouldn't bother.

His idea of staying off the beaten path when going to places is pretty much how I travel. Yet he's done the exact opposite of that with giving people the touristy silly named bar and restaurants that can be found from Pensacola to Destin etc with putting a Margaritaville in places that don't always make sense. How is having a Margaritaville in Chicago better than someone from Chicago going to, say, Miami and going to local places? Well of course it's good for Margaritaville. In the long run it probably isn't. The second Margaritaville restaurant is closed. Other than nostalgia, there's zero reason to have one in New Orleans (and really, it doesn't deserve to be in the French Quarter, where you have to have actual good food to survive these days).

How in the hell is a Margaritaville a "destination place" or whatever? Perhaps he could have expanded the 'brand' and had some different names other than Margaritaville. He sort of did. With one place. In A Pirate Looks At Fifty he talks about places with silly names and one of the names he mentions is Beachcomber.

Imagine that.

There are a lot of names he could use elsewhere that possibly wouldn't tire the brand name out so much: Tire Swing, Tin Cup Chalice, Nautical Wheelers, Dreamsicle, Boat Drinks, hell, Fins would've made a great bar name; Incommunicado, Last Mango, First Look, even Floridays could work.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/busin ... mpire.html

Here's an article about Jimmy Buffet's items to be auctioned off from the Beachcomber... http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news ... er-in.html

Yep. That about covers the situation.

[LIPH]

The novelty does indeed wear off.

For me, that about sums it up. When I lived in NY, if I traveled to a city that had a Margaritaville I made a point of going at least once. Even if it was only to sit at the bar and have a beer. Now I live less than 10 miles from a Margaritaville. In the 4 years I've lived here I don't think I've been there more than 10 times, and at least 5 of those times were when out of towners were visiting and wanted to go. It's overpriced, the food is average at best and if I want to just hang out and have a beer there are a lot of places with much better selections.

[jbfins]

Tourist traps. Everything has turned into a tourist trap. Even the concerts.

[ASaltyPieceOfLand]

Can easily blame the people that want to hear Brown Eyed Girl over something good and original.

[RainTree]

I wasn't going to, but I did anyway - stopped at the new M'ville in the Mall of America. Walked around the bar, past the dining area (only had people at 2 tables) and out the door. Less than 5 minutes. It looked like a simple beach bar with a few surf boards on the wall and some TV screens playing Buffett videos. Nothing like "novelty" or even anything better than any other beach wanna-be restaurant. The shuttle drivers are telling hotel guests to not bother with the place also. Don't expect this one to last very long either.

Agree with others - I'll be a fan of his good music (not covers) and his prose (not Swine Not, or whatever it was).

But I'm also not going to concerts or even watching them on TV. Just like to put in an older CD once in awhile. Simple good music and not the "branding" that he has become.

[Oldestsurfer]

Grand Turk is #1 Cafe.

2. Hollywood beach resort
3. St Thomas
4. Falmouth Jamaica
5. Cozumel
6. Pigeon Forge
7. Orlando
8. Key west
9. Nassau
10. Nashville