Rathskeller set to close
- Thread starter francofan
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Be upset with the guy who let the skeller operate at below market rates for years? How the hell does that make sense? How about be mad at the idiots who bought the place with no business plan and/or sense of knowing that "hey, it this doesn't work we might have to get rid of a place that penn staters love." Just totally tone deaf due to greed.
I'm not sure he should be tying his wagon to this one, even if he is friends with the family.
Absolutely not. The place definitely have something to do. In fact, quite a lot.
The foolish property buyers did not have the foresight to realize this and they will find out how much damage it does to their business.
So as I noted above, I know Herlocher. Here is what I have found out from a close mutual friend.
Other buyers were looking to tear the bldg down.
The skellar/spats we're operating without a lease and paying below market.
Herlocher bought the bldg and spent the summer renovating the apts that hadn't been touched in many decades(had a friend who lived in one. They were bad 17 yrs ago).
He went to skellar/spats to work with them on a new lease at market rates. They refused.
Herlocher offered to buy the businesses, but they wanted an astronomical price. Herlocher countered and they refused so he went and signed a lease with someone willing to do so.
So in summary, the owners of the skellar/spats we're unwilling/unable to pay for the value of the location and we're unwilling to sell the business.
Other buyers were looking to tear the bldg down.
The skellar/spats we're operating without a lease and paying below market.
Herlocher bought the bldg and spent the summer renovating the apts that hadn't been touched in many decades(had a friend who lived in one. They were bad 17 yrs ago).
He went to skellar/spats to work with them on a new lease at market rates. They refused.
Herlocher offered to buy the businesses, but they wanted an astronomical price. Herlocher countered and they refused so he went and signed a lease with someone willing to do so.
So in summary, the owners of the skellar/spats we're unwilling/unable to pay for the value of the location and we're unwilling to sell the business.
You think the people who bought the place were the greedy ones?
The person who sold it was the greedy one. He/she decided to sell out their faithful tenant for millions.
LdN
Mr herlocker is fs
of course that is his side of the story. Let’s hear from the owners. I tell you what. Market rates for landlords are not market rates for businesses. The profits shrink dramatically until their is no more profit. Can’t just jack up prices especially in state college for the students. It is too bad but it keeps happening. I just asked about a property that came up In Myrtle and the lease is absolutely ridiculous and no Indpendent owner could possibly own it. Not to mention the old triple net lease which is crazy expensive. Customers wonder why prices keep going up. Well that is the reason. It’s too bad that knowing the herlockers myself, i know the dad. they wouldn’t appreciate the owners paying the lease as former restaurant owners themselves. The kids though never owned a restaurant.
If you remember being at the Skellar, then chances are you were not really there.
I'm pretty sure the Phyrst is older than Zeno's. I know that there had been a bar where Zeno's is located but I believe it wasn't called Zeno's until the mid 1970s.
While Zeno’s feels as if it has been around since the beginning of time, it actually used to be a shoe cobbler. In 1972, Chris and Zeno Pappas, the cobbler’s owners, discovered that the building had a liquor license that had never been used, and decided to excavate the business and put in a bar ... .
full article
Was it truly astronomical if the loss in business due to boycotts and bad PR outweighs the purchase price? I assume they did the economic analysis on it, and decided it was.
If that is all that I learn for today, then it will still have been an immensely successful day.
If I understand these statements correctly, the Herlochers intend to renovate the building and introduce a "new Skeller" there, updated, modern, fabulous, and too expensive for most students.
Now, if there is one tradition is SC that surpassses all others, it is the tradition of bleeding students and fans. It is stronger than JVP, stronger than Success with Honor, stronger than any tradition or history or practice. Insofar as the Skeller stood in the way of that, it's goodbye Skeller.
Not sure if I were Jay I would have jumped into this.
Now, if there is one tradition is SC that surpassses all others, it is the tradition of bleeding students and fans. It is stronger than JVP, stronger than Success with Honor, stronger than any tradition or history or practice. Insofar as the Skeller stood in the way of that, it's goodbye Skeller.
Not sure if I were Jay I would have jumped into this.
That's no excuse. They have earned every ounce of the backlash they're getting for this, and I hope they keep getting it. My sympathy goes out to the Skeller owners and those who really care about that place - as well as the unsuspecting new tenants who will be walking into a firestorm when they open.
But the Herlochers don't deserve any sympathy or benefit of the doubt here. There's only one party who is kicking the Skeller out, and it's the building owners. Hope "market rates" are worth the trouble!
So, we have learned from this thread that Capitalism is evil.
Fire. Capitalism.
That’s the spirit!
Why wouldn't he publicly stick up for what appears to be his business partner? https://www.bizapedia.com/pa/herlocher-paterno-llc.html
Maybe they're planning some special edition Joe branded mustard.
a fond memory
my phone rings at 530AM on Saturday morning. I had just passed out a mere 2 hours before this call. my buddy Bob:
"Dude, you coming down to the Skellar?"
ME: "Bob, it is 530. I just passed out"
BOB: "But today is Case Race at the Skellar! We need you"
ME: "no way in hell man . . .:
BOB: "dude, you're an alcoholic. this is the one day of the year it benefits someone. the kids man. THIS IS FOR THE KIDS!"
ME (throwing on clothes): "ok man. for the kids"
We wait in line until doors open at . . .what? 8AM?
somehow managed to drink Rolling Rock ponies for about 15 hours
but is was for the kids, so all was good.
#SaveTheSkellar
my phone rings at 530AM on Saturday morning. I had just passed out a mere 2 hours before this call. my buddy Bob:
"Dude, you coming down to the Skellar?"
ME: "Bob, it is 530. I just passed out"
BOB: "But today is Case Race at the Skellar! We need you"
ME: "no way in hell man . . .:
BOB: "dude, you're an alcoholic. this is the one day of the year it benefits someone. the kids man. THIS IS FOR THE KIDS!"
ME (throwing on clothes): "ok man. for the kids"
We wait in line until doors open at . . .what? 8AM?
somehow managed to drink Rolling Rock ponies for about 15 hours
but is was for the kids, so all was good.
#SaveTheSkellar
No the person kicking the Skellar out is the owner who took rent for years, did no renovations to bring it to code and then sold his longtime tenant out.
That's who deserves the scorn.
LdN
Holy sh*t. This is just like the Joe Moorhead thread.
No one knows any of the details, but everyone "KNOWS" what happened and applies blame accordingly.
I provided some additional details. It is not the full story and I do not pretend to know it all.
Perhaps the Skellar is not run all that well (lord knows they haven't cleaned their tap lines in years) and they could only exist with below-market rent. Perhaps the owners of the skellar are jerks. Perhaps herlocher is a mean, greedy rich guy. In 20+ years, I have known him to be just the opposite, but who knows. I have never done business with him.
Bottom line, everyone with an opinion here needs to simmer down. You don't know anything about what happened.
What we do know is that Herlocher invested $6M+ of his own money to buy a sh*thole of a historic bldg in perhaps the best location in town. He saved the bldg from the wrecking ball and has been pouring money into it to make it livable. You have no idea how bad those apartments were. Herlocher, personally, was going to the hardware store to buy punch list items for the contractor to get the apts ready the day before move-in weekend.
He tried to put a lease in place, but they could not come to terms so he found someone willing to do so.
Bottom Line, before anyone assigns motives or blame or thinks Herlocher should rent the space at a discount, ask yourself if you are willing to sell your house or your car at below market value. Are you greedy for negotiating prices and wanting to maximize your outcome for these things? Glass houses.
I'd much rather blame the party who is actually kicking the Skeller out - the current owners - than the party who did not kick the Skeller out. The Herlochers had (and still has) the opportunity to not kick the Skeller out, but chose to do so anyway because they believed they would make more money with a different tenant. That was a choice, and they're learning that such a choice has consequences. I believe those consequences are richly deserved, and it seems like most have also seen right through their smarmy "we're actually the good guys!" PR spin.
No one held a gun to his head to buy the building. The notion he "saved" the building frpm the wrecking ball is pure PR BS. Glad you're his buddy and he has you to promote that narrative but people who are not his pals can see right through that garbage.
If Herlocher is such a knight in shining armor, why not try to get ahead of the news, and why release such a piss poor press release?
Well you're blaming the wrong person. The Herlochers have ZERO relationship with this tenant.
The old owners... who walked away from a building they performed no upkeep on and their long term client, are to blame.
The old owners took $5mm knowing the plan for the new owners.
LdN
I went to Penn State from 1974-1978. I can personally attest that Zeno's was in operation during the mid 1970s.
So who are the "new owners" and how did the Herlochers save the building? From what I understand they bought the place earlier this year; ownership didn't change hands before that. If that's the case, the Herlochers were in on the plans to tear it down.
What's wrong with planning to tear it down when you buy a POS from an owner who did not maintain the building?
This was all part of the plan. The previous owner left his longtime tenant and a PSU staple out to dry.
They collected rent for years. Did no upkeep and walked away with 5mm.
LdN
I'm not disagreeing but the Herlochers did themselves no favors with the press release and/or its timing.
Bullcrap. This is the internet. Grab the pitchforks, burn the mother to the ground and see if you can find the truth in the ashes.
I lived in one of those apartments 28 years ago and they were average, at best, at the time. If they haven't been updated since then they must be total dumps.
A
anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
The issue is the rent - not the upkeep, right? Even if the building was properly maintained, if the tenants weren’t paying market value the new owners would have forced them out anyway, right?
