Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill

Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill
Private
Industry Restaurant franchise
Founded Austin, Texas, United States (2006 (2006))
Headquarters Austin, Texas, United States
Area served
 United States
Key people
 Doug Guller
Services Food and beverage
Parent ATX Brands
Website Official website

Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill is a chain of sports bars and restaurants located in Texas.[1] The restaurant chain is known for its scantily-clad waitresses, called "Bikini Babes", whose uniforms consist of its eponymous bikini tops, cowboy boots, and tight denim shorts.[2] The chain is also known for trademarking the term "breastaurant" (a common term for this and similar restaurants)[3][4] and purchasing a ghost town that was subsequently renamed "Bikinis, Texas".[5]

History

Bikinis waitress with standard uniform of bikini top and jeans shorts
Exterior view of Austin, Texas Bikinis location

Restaurant founder Doug Guller reports having gotten the idea for Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill in 2001 on an Australian vacation after being offered a beer by an attractive waitress while watching rugby. Guller theorized that a combination of sports, beer and sex appeal would be particularly recession-proof.[6] The first restaurant was opened in Austin in 2006,[7] and a total of 14 locations have subsequently opened, 13 of which are now closed. Most of the locations were in the Interstate 35 corridor in Texas (San Antonio).

The CBS TV show Undercover Boss featured Bikinis Sports Bar and Grill, airing on December 28, 2014. The show featured the on-air firing of a bartender who refused to wear a bikini in front of cameras, overserved a patron, and was not enthusiastic about her job. A waitress with a good attitude was rewarded with a breast augmentation. These scenes provoked controversy on social media, especially on the Bikinis Facebook pages and on Twitter. The Facebook pages were taken offline temporarily and the negative comments were deleted, while non-social media sites have retained the negative comments. Guller and ATX Brands personnel had their own view while those loyal to ATX Brands have had mixed reactions. The airing affected the future of Bikinis such that its nine existing locations faced uncertainty as to whether the restaurant chain would stay in business.

Since May 2015, the Bikinis located in the DFW Metroplex, which have been featured on Undercover Boss, are in the process of being rebranded by ATX Brands as Gino's East Pizzerias. This will make DFW the second populated MSA in Texas (besides Houston and San Antonio) to lose their existing Bikinis restaurants. ATX Brands will continue to retain the first two Bikinis located in Austin. DFW locations (Arlington, Richardson) have been shuttered since February 11, 2015, with the Mesquite location following suit after April 15, 2015. As of December 2015, just one Bikinis located in Austin, TX (located in Downtown Austin on Sixth Street) is still in operation, making it the final vestige of a restaurant chain facing extinction. The flagship location closed its doors December 20, 2015.

Not only did the Undercover Boss appearance tarnish the entire Bikinis chain, there is a rumor that ATX Brands have been hit with fines from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, where two locations (the former Woodlands and Richardson location) had liquor violations, from overserving. (Undercover Boss exposed the bartender who overserved, and the TABC used the tape as evidence). A sting operation was conducted by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department where a bartender was arrested for failure to card (asking for a valid ID if one is of legal drinking age). Two locations have been cited for fire code violations.

In May 2014, Doug Guller said that the Charlotte, NC location, which was company owned, failed because it was too difficult to manage from a distance. He planned to extend the brand outside of Texas with franchises rather than corporately owned stores.[8] He claimed to be making an effort to hire female managers.[8] There are claims of mismanagement and/or corporate involvement from ATX Brands personnel into its business assets, where Bikinis employees (current and former) have stated that their locations, which are exemplary in their work ethic, are being controlled by ATX Brands corporate staff, as if their locations were the equivalent of a labor union-run place of employment, e.g. an automotive assembly plant, where its employees are also union members. Also reviews on yelp.com have yielded 2-star feedback - worker morale and patron dissatisfaction might have led to a decline of the entire chain, which Undercover Boss exposed at some of its locations.

Marketing

Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill has utilized a marketing campaign which has included several high-profile publicity stunts. Forbes Magazine praised the ability of Bikinis' press releases to attract print and social media attention.[9] Also, the restaurant chain had a loyalty program formerly known as the Bikinis Black Card where patrons earned points for rewards. Patrons who had over 1000 points on their black card account would judge one of their in-store bikini contests. During the opening of Bikinis, Texas in July 2013, Black Card account holders also got a chance to meet Carmen Electra in person. The Black Card program was terminated March 31, 2014 in response to changes in the alcoholic beverage laws in Texas, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.

The restaurant chain hosted a monthly bikini contest. Some of the contests were seasonal until February 2014 when the company began phasing out the contests based on the ratio of active waitstaff who would sign up and enter in lieu of the newly established Miss Bikinis USA Pageant. The airing of Undercover Boss on December 28, 2014 also revealed that some Bikinis locations have a low employee turnout where some of their restaurants are slow performing—ATX Brands withdrew 4 Bikinis where the company owned restaurants which were poor performing were shuttered and/or rebranded under the ATX Brands aegis as Gino's East Pizzeria.

Bikinis, Texas

In 2012, Guller purchased the ghost town of Bankersmith saying that he would rename the town to "Bikinis, Texas" after his restaurant chain.[5] Guller said he would turn the town into a tourist destination with the creation of a bikini hall of fame which described the swimwear's history. No plans were made to open a Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill restaurant at the location, but Guller suggested that a bar inside an abandoned bus could be possible.[5]

A "grand opening" of Bikinis, Texas was scheduled for July 13, 2013. Country musician Jerry Jeff Walker was to perform and Carmen Electra was present to be inducted to the bikini hall of fame.[10] Other events which have been planned to be associated with the town include a "Miss Bikinis USA" pageant[11] and a possible reality show.[7]

"Breastaurant" trademark

In September 2011, Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill filed a request with a United States Patent and Trademark Office to register the term "breastaurant". The term was successfully registered in October 2012.[3] The Huffington Post suggested that the trademarking of "breastaurant" was a consequence of the boom in breastaurant sales figures in the early 2010s.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Locations". Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  2. ↑ Rice, Jason (February 2, 2009). "New Sports Bar 'With A View' Opens In University Area". WSOCTV.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Trademarkia (October 23, 2012). "USPTO Trademark: Breastaurant". Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  4. 1 2 "'Breastaurant' Trademarked By Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill Owner". Huffington Post. April 9, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Shaw, Alexis (July 19, 2012). ""Breastaurant" Chain Owner Buys Texas Town, Renames it Bikinis". ABC News. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  6. ↑ "About". Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  7. 1 2 Garza, Vicky (November 5, 2012). "Bikinis may hit TV screens with reality show deal". Austin Business Journal. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  8. 1 2 Buchholz, Jan (Apr 15, 2014). "Bikinis' Guller has had a host of successes — along with a few busts". Austin Business Journal.
  9. ↑ Perlut, Aaron (June 14, 2013). ""Breastaurant" Stands Out In PR And Marketing Clutter". Forbes. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  10. ↑ Sun, Jasmin (June 12, 2013). "Texas Breastaurant Town Bikinis to Open July 13". Eater. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  11. ↑ Chan, Aleksander (May 13, 2013). "'Breastaurant' Bikinis Is Bringing Miss Bikinis USA To Bikinis, Texas". Austinist. Retrieved June 25, 2013.

Official website

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