Bijoux is doing horrible. They are losing $20,000 a week in payroll. I know this for a fact. They closed on Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, contemplating closing on Thursdays now, and just open on Fridays and Saturdays. The Saturday brunch party is paying Bijoux rent and Bijoux expenses. It is keeping Bijoux a live. It is all tied together. When Bijoux loses $20,000+ a week, the money made from Merkato goes to paying Bijoux expenses.

Not only that, but Bijoux uses an abundance of promoters, and its "owners" were on a salary, the operations were a mess. This is all inside information. You should see the books on this place, falling miserably, its bad, and unfortunate, because I personally thought it would change the climax of the meatpacking.

But yes, I agree, the meatpacking is DONE.

There is one Last Place Standing in the MPD and that is APT.

APT has some how managed to survive for almost ten years and that I think deserves real props!

Shocking that a place that has seemed to attract a reasonably good crowd can be doing so poorly economically, goes to show the strange economics of nightlife anyhow. With regard to MePa and resto's, with the exception of Del Posto / Morimoto on the outskirts I can't think of any really good eateries in MePa proper? That being said there is no real reason there shoudln't be one assuming the rent is reasonable - Convivio seems to be making a run of it in Tudor Place which is a part of the city I didn't even know existed, so why wouldn't the right establishment do well in MePa?

Bijoux seemed like great club. Music, space, and crowd are great. To DoingHorrible: I thought Merkato was losing money but Bijoux was making $? So they are both losing $? Unfortunate because I'd much rather see Kiss & Fly shut down rather than Bijoux.

Franklin Becker in the new Lotus space has a shot at success if its food first everything else second.

im pretty bijoux is not going to close even though they are definitely doing poor with their money. from what i understand they have invested too much to give up now

I posted on this site weeks ago how Bijoux / Merkato was on the death watch. Merkato is losing money and losing it fast. They were under financed when they opened. Bijoux and Merkato have the same owners. The rent is astronomical. The problem with this spot and most of these spots in the meatpacking is the rent.

Now, Everyone is talking about how lotus has a chance (whatever they call). Two things to note - The rent was cheap for the location when those guys took over the spot but, they have been sitting on the space for well over a year. During that time the rent has doubled and is still going to escalate. Additionally it is a very expensive project that is obviously under funded. This isn't the same market it was when they opened Tenjune.

In the end the meat packing has a few places that have good food and those places seem to hold their own. the places that have bad food and have poor management are failing.

I was there a few thursdays ago and the place was literally empty. Less than 10 people at 3am.

Merkato 55 was a misadventure from the start, I don't think it is fair basis for any sort of conclusion regarding the MPD. Pastis is there and crowded 7/365, Soho and Norwood house host top-shelf private events. The failure of Bijoux is probably mostly economics, with lower costs they'd probably manage. Possibly the promoter-driven nightclub economy is at an end. Or maybe the MPD rents need to normalize.

More interesting questions:
What about the re-opening of Double 7? Does that still make sense?
Why do people open terrible restaurants like Merkato 55 with bad service and bad food?

I think it is the end of promoter driven places. The most important aspect of nightclub business is having an owner as a built in promoter, and of course, keeping your rent very low. The moment you start paying promoters, its the downfall to anything. If you look at places like Beatrice, Rose Bar, Eldridge, you can even throw La Esquina, and Bowery Hotel into that mix, they don't use promoters. I know Eldridge rent has been publicized and low, and I am sure Beatrice rent is low. Rose Bar will always survive, and if you notice, out of those 3 places, they don't care about money, and they don't really use promoters.

But most important, is the rent. Second is not using promoters. Third is not "selling out." Even 1Oak is selling out. It's all suits, wall street people, and so on. If you want longevity in this business, you can't "sell out" for quick money. I think Tenjune did that too quickly in the MeatPacking. I even heard Chloe is paying promoters now. There rent is probably very low as well, but their crowd doesn't buy drinks or bottles, so I can't see it even paying rent.

But I believe it is the death of Meatpacking, with rent so high, you need to "sell out" and bring in money whatever you can to pay rent. Are you going to say know to wall street guys wanting to buy bottles? Absolutely not if you have a $40k rent.

So what's the next hot location? Southstreet Seaport? LES? Financial District? West Village making a come back?

I'm neutral towards Bijoux, but I doubt Merkato 55 can cover the bills for long. I've been there for dinner and Saturday brunch. The dinner service was polite but the food sucked. The food sucked even harder at brunch and I was appalled by the douchey amateurs manning the hostess stand and door. Our server and the downstairs bartender were lovely and I didn't even mind the three cheesy promoters milling about, but the hostess & door guy were horrific a**holes.

I do like Bijoux, and I cant figure it out. It's so hit and miss. Sometimes it's completely packed with an amazing crowd, and other times it's completely empty, I mean empty with no one inside. I remember this fall going there on a Friday and walking out because I was the only person around at 1am. And then a few weekends later it had a huge line outside and you could hardly move inside...

West Village making a come back? And the answer is YES!
The area are usually really busy Thursday-Saturday!

APT is actually not bad. Went there recently on a Thursday night not too long ago and it was decent. Best part was these two obnoxious douchebags in front of us at the door. Doorman got so fed up with them he goes " Tenjune is around the corner fellas" and makes me and my boy step up to get carded. Rejecting two corny Jersey Boys =Obviously cool in my book.

DoingHorrible you are missing a couple points that most people leave out. Rose Bar is in a expensive hotel with a built in revenue stream from hotel guests. in addition they have Nur Kahn and Frank Roberts on staff who are promoter types. No stand alone venue could afford the luxury that Rose Bar has being that it is in the Hotel. That would mean the same for Bowery. Eldridge is very small and Matt has done a good job. Beatrice doesn't make a lot of money. They keep it slow and steady and over the long run they will make a great return on investment but they don't make the kind of money the bigger places make.

You guys can all talk about selling out, using promoters, etc. This is business. This is real life. Of course a place like 1Oak or Tenjune are going to let in suits. they do 6 figures a week plus. They probably profit about 20% on that. That's a lot of money. They can be hot for 2 years, double or triple their money and then do it all over again. Tenjune is almost 3 years old. I think they were profitable after 6 months. That means 20 cents on every dollar since then has been pure profit. Its a great investment.

I'm just tired of the whole Beatrice Hipster types are the coolest people on earth who don't sell out. I know most of those kids and they are rich kids spending dad's money pretending to be broke. What exactly is so cool about that. I like the spot. I like the concept of the place. Matt and Paul deserve a lot of credit and respect but, the people who post on here make it sound like beatrice is what NY nightlife should be about. the truth is Mansion is more NY then Beatrice.

Mansion is the worst club in NY, period.

great point, i agree, some people idolize these hipster type places, and i def. don't agree with that, i agree with your post on nur khan and rose bar, i agree with beatrice, and i do give credit to matt, to everyones surprise, that small place is keeping it cool while doing big numbers, and not "selling out" -

what i disagree about, is that if you follow that "suit" mentality, you will be like every other hot club of the moment, the key word "the moment." the reason why nur, paul and matt will be around for a while, is because they don't give in to "quick money." I would have to say that Paul probably doesn't make money, but he has built a following, and a brand which he could turn into dollars, but I have been in Rose Bar seeing champagne flowing, as I have also been in Elridge and seen champagne flowing.

Marc and Eugene are very smart guys, they know what they are doing, I trust they will get through these tough times, but I am worried about Richie and Scott, I really don't believe they have that "business" mentality from what I see. There is one thing to "be cool" and there is one thing to "be smart", this business is about being both, which most club operators and owners don't understand.

Is it worth putting $3 million into a place and "being cool" or getting your investors money back? Ask the meatpacking district club owners...

Hey does anybody know what's going on with the old PM space and Rhone, both on Gansvoort St. Word has it that Megu is in negotiations with Merkato. Any truth to that?

What is with all these predictions and assumptions....have all of you gone out and become nightclub owners...???? Let me guess you go out twice a week, and you know a jerk off promoter and a wannabe model and now you're an expert in the field.

Go back to filing your papers, making your "business" calls, and flipping your burgers and leave the business to those that put their asses on the line...

Club junkie douches!

Double 7 won't be coming back because they treat their investors like crap. D7 got so cool, its own investors couldn't get in. So they declined to participate in the next venture.

Hater -- I would think the original D7 investors would be pissed because their investment in the space got wiped out when the building was demolished. The door was fine.

What is sad is that they have not paid there staff in weeks and keep stealing the money that is made (credit card tips) that the staff is making to actually keep the the place operating. Checks are bouncing the IRS is on their ass. I feel bad for the staff that works the ridiculous saturday brunch and then ends up getting nothing for it. They are working for FREE.

i hear the saturday brunch produces 50-60K every weekend..im sure the staff is being paid or otherwise you'd have no brunch! think for a second?