To the Skellar-Herlocher Angry Mob

[heckmans]

Herlocher purchased the Foster Bldg back in the spring/summer.
They attempted to negotiate a lease for months with the Gastigers, something that the skellar/spats hadn't had since 2011.
At an impasse, Herlocher found someone else willing to rent the space via a market-driven lease.
Yesterday, without notice, the Gastigers put out a PR that said their "lease wasn't renewed". That's BS. They were not willing to pay the rent that the landlord thought was fair. It's especially BS, since they didn't even have a lease.

Herlocher quickly released a response that didn't satisfy the angry mob. You'd think that after the media and onlookers took down PSU based on little facts or evidence, the PSU community would reserve judgment until some facts were known, but no. The angry PSU mob grabbed their keyboard torches and pitchforks and mobilized. Despite spending somewhere between $0-40 annually at the skellar, angry alums saw it their duty to tell a local business how they should operate, despite not having any idea of the health of the skellar or why negotiations failed.

Anyway, Herlocher has now released a second open letter after conferring with the new tenant that clarifies intentions for the space. Hopefully you can all go back to more productive activities of slamming Pitt, monitoring flight aware, and outing the newest handles of banned board members.

http://www.statecollege.com/news/lo...ate-college-and-penn-state-community,1474729/

 

[WarrentonLion]

Thank you for the link and explanation.

 

[Woodpecker]

Herlocher purchased the Foster Bldg back in the spring/summer.
They attempted to negotiate a lease for months with the Gastigers, something that the skellar/spats hadn't had since 2011.
At an impasse, Herlocher found someone else willing to rent the space via a market-driven lease.
Yesterday, without notice, the Gastigers put out a PR that said their "lease wasn't renewed". That's BS. They were not willing to pay the rent that the landlord thought was fair. It's especially BS, since they didn't even have a lease.

Herlocher quickly released a response that didn't satisfy the angry mob. You'd think that after the media and onlookers took down PSU based on little facts or evidence, the PSU community would reserve judgment until some facts were known, but no. The angry PSU mob grabbed their keyboard torches and pitchforks and mobilized. Despite spending somewhere between $0-40 annually at the skellar, angry alums saw it their duty to tell a local business how they should operate, despite not having any idea of the health of the skellar or why negotiations failed.

Anyway, Herlocher has now released a second open letter after conferring with the new tenant that clarifies intentions for the space. Hopefully you can all go back to more productive activities of slamming Pitt, monitoring flight aware, and outing the newest handles of banned board members.

http://www.statecollege.com/news/lo...ate-college-and-penn-state-community,1474729/

He's hoping that cuts the mustard

 

[ThePennsyOracle]

Herlocher purchased the Foster Bldg back in the spring/summer.
They attempted to negotiate a lease for months with the Gastigers, something that the skellar/spats hadn't had since 2011.
At an impasse, Herlocher found someone else willing to rent the space via a market-driven lease.
Yesterday, without notice, the Gastigers put out a PR that said their "lease wasn't renewed". That's BS. They were not willing to pay the rent that the landlord thought was fair. It's especially BS, since they didn't even have a lease.

Herlocher quickly released a response that didn't satisfy the angry mob. You'd think that after the media and onlookers took down PSU based on little facts or evidence, the PSU community would reserve judgment until some facts were known, but no. The angry PSU mob grabbed their keyboard torches and pitchforks and mobilized. Despite spending somewhere between $0-40 annually at the skellar, angry alums saw it their duty to tell a local business how they should operate, despite not having any idea of the health of the skellar or why negotiations failed.

Anyway, Herlocher has now released a second open letter after conferring with the new tenant that clarifies intentions for the space. Hopefully you can all go back to more productive activities of slamming Pitt, monitoring flight aware, and outing the newest handles of banned board members.

http://www.statecollege.com/news/lo...ate-college-and-penn-state-community,1474729/

There's a lot of BS from both the Gastingers and the Herlochers. The initial response from Herlocher was a whole bunch of nothing.

 

[OhioLion]

He's hoping that cuts the mustard

He did spread it pretty well.

OL

 

[BBrown]

Herlocher purchased the Foster Bldg back in the spring/summer.
They attempted to negotiate a lease for months with the Gastigers, something that the skellar/spats hadn't had since 2011.
At an impasse, Herlocher found someone else willing to rent the space via a market-driven lease.
Yesterday, without notice, the Gastigers put out a PR that said their "lease wasn't renewed". That's BS. They were not willing to pay the rent that the landlord thought was fair. It's especially BS, since they didn't even have a lease.

Herlocher quickly released a response that didn't satisfy the angry mob. You'd think that after the media and onlookers took down PSU based on little facts or evidence, the PSU community would reserve judgment until some facts were known, but no. The angry PSU mob grabbed their keyboard torches and pitchforks and mobilized. Despite spending somewhere between $0-40 annually at the skellar, angry alums saw it their duty to tell a local business how they should operate, despite not having any idea of the health of the skellar or why negotiations failed.

Anyway, Herlocher has now released a second open letter after conferring with the new tenant that clarifies intentions for the space. Hopefully you can all go back to more productive activities of slamming Pitt, monitoring flight aware, and outing the newest handles of banned board members.

http://www.statecollege.com/news/lo...ate-college-and-penn-state-community,1474729/

 

[Nitt1300]

we are a bitter and angry group, aren't we?

 

[PeetzPoolBoy]

we are a bitter and angry group, aren't we?

We're like the Vols, except we practice good oral hygiene.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

There's a lot of BS from both the Gastingers and the Herlochers. The initial response from Herlocher was a whole bunch of nothing.

So is this, unless I missed the part where the Herlocher’s tried and failed to work out a new lease for the Gastingers. There was never an attempt to keep them - a new tenant was always part of their plan.

 

[BBrown]

we are a bitter and angry group, aren't we?

Just wait until something comes along that can really fuel our outrage.

 

[demlion]

Herlocher purchased the Foster Bldg back in the spring/summer.
They attempted to negotiate a lease for months with the Gastigers, something that the skellar/spats hadn't had since 2011.
At an impasse, Herlocher found someone else willing to rent the space via a market-driven lease.
Yesterday, without notice, the Gastigers put out a PR that said their "lease wasn't renewed". That's BS. They were not willing to pay the rent that the landlord thought was fair. It's especially BS, since they didn't even have a lease.

Herlocher quickly released a response that didn't satisfy the angry mob. You'd think that after the media and onlookers took down PSU based on little facts or evidence, the PSU community would reserve judgment until some facts were known, but no. The angry PSU mob grabbed their keyboard torches and pitchforks and mobilized. Despite spending somewhere between $0-40 annually at the skellar, angry alums saw it their duty to tell a local business how they should operate, despite not having any idea of the health of the skellar or why negotiations failed.

Anyway, Herlocher has now released a second open letter after conferring with the new tenant that clarifies intentions for the space. Hopefully you can all go back to more productive activities of slamming Pitt, monitoring flight aware, and outing the newest handles of banned board members.

http://www.statecollege.com/news/lo...ate-college-and-penn-state-community,1474729/

First of all, there is no mob and there never was. This is just a part of the "free market" I am always hearing lauded here. If a company I like and have frequented gets attacked or dumped on, I push back. THAT IS PART OF THE FREE MARKET, TOO.

The 850 1 star ratings on Herlocker's FB page yesterday until they shut down the comments? The free market at work. The 6500 people who signed a petition? Free Market. The absolutely brutal reviews on amazon?

1.0 out of 5 starsCan't give less then 1 star, else I would.
ByAmazon Customeron December 4, 2017

If you enjoy destroying local businesses, and loathe history, this may be the mustard for you.

Yeah, that is your same free market at work. You don't get to call it in your favor only when you want to F somebody. It is a 2 way street.

 

[heckmans]

So is this, unless I missed the part where the Herlocher’s tried and failed to work out a new lease for the Gastingers. There was never an attempt to keep them - a new tenant was always part of their plan.

You missed it. Herlochers tried to work out a lease with the Gastingers since they purchased the bldg back in spring/summer(I forget the exact date). After a number of months of failure, Herlochers spent the last few months looking for a new tenant and found one recently.

 

[ThePennsyOracle]

You missed it. Herlochers tried to work out a lease with the Gastingers since they purchased the bldg back in spring/summer(I forget the exact date). After a number of months of failure, Herlochers spent the last few months looking for a new tenant and found one recently.

And did a piss poor job of anticipating, planning for, mitigating, and responding to the fallout. They have no one to blame but themselves for this situation.

 

[christoph]

Well “tried to work out a new lease” could mean anything. It also could have been rent so high that it was not feasible. I’m not seeing a super high profit at a college bar where drinks have to be cheap.

 

[Nitt1300]

And did a piss poor job of anticipating, planning for, mitigating, and responding to the fallout. They have no one to blame but themselves for this situation.

They forgot that we've turned into such a nation of whiny, entitled morons- so I suppose that is in some way on them. But I think it mostly isn't.

 

[heckmans]

I think some wise advice would have been to tell the new owners, from the get-go, to just "go about their business" - without over-responding to a few folks engaging in a 24 hour cycle of "furor" - rather than contorting a pack of lies and conjured "excuses".
But spinning everything from "We didn't know what the existing agreements were (to the property we were buying...LOL)" , to "The Skeller was going bankrupt anyway", to "We were trying to "save" the property from the wrecking ball", to "We are on a Mission from God" .


But, yeah, comparing this scenario to the "PSU Situation" makes sense. That's the way to go.

The ongoing protestations from that camp now just make even a casual observer wonder "WTF is going on?"
Good move.

This might be better advice:
"If you don't want the intelligent portion of the population to think you're a ****sucker, don't feed them inane lines of BS designed to assuage the ignorant masses."

SMFH

If you don't see the similarities between the public responses to the two situations, I suspect you didn't do too well on the verbal section of the SAT. No offense.

 

[demlion]

If I make a new Christmas toy and it is wildly popular and there is great buzz around it, people might be fistfighting each other at Kmart over it. That may look like a mob but it is the free market.

The Herlochers absolutely BOTCHED the rollout, and they apparently thought that their contempt for the Gastigers was shared by those of us who never knew the Gastigers.

It wasn't. All we know of the Gastigers is that we liked the Skeller just as it was. This is a giant self-inflicted wound.

 

[heckmans]

And did a piss poor job of anticipating, planning for, mitigating, and responding to the fallout. They have no one to blame but themselves for this situation.

It's easy to armchair QB this. Much like PSU was caught flat-footed, is it so hard to believe that a small business owner focused on running the business didn't anticipate that the Gastigers would misrepresent the situation and the PSU community would act like a bunch of irrational teenagers?

 

[Ranger Dan]

Herlocher purchased the Foster Bldg back in the spring/summer.
They attempted to negotiate a lease for months with the Gastigers, something that the skellar/spats hadn't had since 2011.
At an impasse, Herlocher found someone else willing to rent the space via a market-driven lease.
Yesterday, without notice, the Gastigers put out a PR that said their "lease wasn't renewed". That's BS. They were not willing to pay the rent that the landlord thought was fair. It's especially BS, since they didn't even have a lease.

Herlocher quickly released a response that didn't satisfy the angry mob. You'd think that after the media and onlookers took down PSU based on little facts or evidence, the PSU community would reserve judgment until some facts were known, but no. The angry PSU mob grabbed their keyboard torches and pitchforks and mobilized. Despite spending somewhere between $0-40 annually at the skellar, angry alums saw it their duty to tell a local business how they should operate, despite not having any idea of the health of the skellar or why negotiations failed.

Anyway, Herlocher has now released a second open letter after conferring with the new tenant that clarifies intentions for the space. Hopefully you can all go back to more productive activities of slamming Pitt, monitoring flight aware, and outing the newest handles of banned board members.

http://www.statecollege.com/news/lo...ate-college-and-penn-state-community,1474729/

But I want to be mad at somebody.... LOL. Thanks for the post. I still think for longevity's sake someone should make it a historical landmark of some kind.

 

[Mack_Daddy]

Herlocher purchased the Foster Bldg back in the spring/summer.
They attempted to negotiate a lease for months with the Gastigers, something that the skellar/spats hadn't had since 2011.
At an impasse, Herlocher found someone else willing to rent the space via a market-driven lease.
Yesterday, without notice, the Gastigers put out a PR that said their "lease wasn't renewed". That's BS. They were not willing to pay the rent that the landlord thought was fair. It's especially BS, since they didn't even have a lease.

Herlocher quickly released a response that didn't satisfy the angry mob. You'd think that after the media and onlookers took down PSU based on little facts or evidence, the PSU community would reserve judgment until some facts were known, but no. The angry PSU mob grabbed their keyboard torches and pitchforks and mobilized. Despite spending somewhere between $0-40 annually at the skellar, angry alums saw it their duty to tell a local business how they should operate, despite not having any idea of the health of the skellar or why negotiations failed.

Anyway, Herlocher has now released a second open letter after conferring with the new tenant that clarifies intentions for the space. Hopefully you can all go back to more productive activities of slamming Pitt, monitoring flight aware, and outing the newest handles of banned board members.

http://www.statecollege.com/news/lo...ate-college-and-penn-state-community,1474729/

 

[demlion]

It's easy to armchair QB this. Much like PSU was caught flat-footed, is it so hard to believe that a small business owner focused on running the business didn't anticipate that the Gastigers would misrepresent the situation and the PSU community would act like a bunch of irrational teenagers?

The PSU community? Irrational teenagers? You mean their future customers? Are you sure you aren't their director of Marketing? LOL. You are defending them because you cannot see it either.

This has nothing to do with PSU.

 

[NittanyChris]

Herlocher purchased the Foster Bldg back in the spring/summer.
They attempted to negotiate a lease for months with the Gastigers, something that the skellar/spats hadn't had since 2011.
At an impasse, Herlocher found someone else willing to rent the space via a market-driven lease.
Yesterday, without notice, the Gastigers put out a PR that said their "lease wasn't renewed". That's BS. They were not willing to pay the rent that the landlord thought was fair. It's especially BS, since they didn't even have a lease.

Herlocher quickly released a response that didn't satisfy the angry mob. You'd think that after the media and onlookers took down PSU based on little facts or evidence, the PSU community would reserve judgment until some facts were known, but no. The angry PSU mob grabbed their keyboard torches and pitchforks and mobilized. Despite spending somewhere between $0-40 annually at the skellar, angry alums saw it their duty to tell a local business how they should operate, despite not having any idea of the health of the skellar or why negotiations failed.

Anyway, Herlocher has now released a second open letter after conferring with the new tenant that clarifies intentions for the space. Hopefully you can all go back to more productive activities of slamming Pitt, monitoring flight aware, and outing the newest handles of banned board members.

http://www.statecollege.com/news/lo...ate-college-and-penn-state-community,1474729/

Sorry man, but you're the Herlocher's schill apparently. "The rent that the landlord thought was fair"? Fair to whom? "market-driven"? Riiiight.

My mortgage company suddently tells me I need to pay $1500 more per month because that's the market. Um, no.

They wanted the Gastigers out and now they are paying the public relations price for not thinking this through, for not having any appreciation of what The Skeller means to SC and the Penn State community.

In short, their avarice or stupidity (it does not matter which) is costing them. As it should.

 

[heckmans]

If I make a new Christmas toy and it is wildly popular and there is great buzz around it, people might be fistfighting each other at Kmart over it. That may look like a mob but it is the free market.

The Herlochers absolutely BOTCHED the rollout, and they apparently thought that their contempt for the Gastigers was shared by those of us who never knew the Gastigers.

It wasn't. All we know of the Gastigers is that we liked the Skeller just as it was. This is a giant self-inflicted wound.

Well, the only people who like "the skellar as it was" are people that don't live in central PA and don't spend any money in the skellar.
If the business was flourishing, they could afford market rent like every other successful bar currently operating. Either the Gastigers are just stupid and irrational or the business couldn't sustain itself without charity.

 

[massimoManca II]

You missed it. Herlochers tried to work out a lease with the Gastingers since they purchased the bldg back in spring/summer(I forget the exact date). After a number of months of failure, Herlochers spent the last few months looking for a new tenant and found one recently.

My role with one of the largest food & beverage companies in North America has me working very closely with food service folks for the past twenty years, including those who run local restaurants... the assumptions that immediately form when I hear PR-speak such as: "... tried to work out a lease with the Gastingers" are likely accurate. My gut has served me quite well in business over the years so I'm comfortable where I staked my tent in this fight... I also subscribe to the ol' saw: PIGS GET SLAUGHTERED...

Somebody is trying to behave like a big-shot real-estate mover-shaker in a small town... and they just stepped-in pile of poo over a bees-nest...

 

[LionDeNittany]

First of all, there is no mob and there never was. This is just a part of the "free market" I am always hearing lauded here. If a company I like and have frequented gets attacked or dumped on, I push back. THAT IS PART OF THE FREE MARKET, TOO.

The 850 1 star ratings on Herlocker's FB page yesterday until they shut down the comments? The free market at work. The 6500 people who signed a petition? Free Market. The absolutely brutal reviews on amazon?

1.0 out of 5 starsCan't give less then 1 star, else I would.
ByAmazon Customeron December 4, 2017

If you enjoy destroying local businesses, and loathe history, this may be the mustard for you.

Yeah, that is your same free market at work. You don't get to call it in your favor only when you want to F somebody. It is a 2 way street.

There is no market here you mentioned.

This is closer to freedom of expression.

I don't think any of the economists on this board have an issue with people being fools on social media.

That does not mean we have to agree with their idiocy.

LdN

 

[Nitt1300]

It's easy to armchair QB this. Much like PSU was caught flat-footed, is it so hard to believe that a small business owner focused on running the business didn't anticipate that the Gastigers would misrepresent the situation and the PSU community would act like a bunch of irrational teenagers?

anybody who couldn't foresee that just doesn't know us

 

[Cletus11]

I am still confused about what is the issue. Somebody bought the building. They told the existing tenants here is the new lease arrangement. The old tenants said no, we are not renewing as too expensive. Happens all the time in real estate. You own the building, you can sort of do what you want with it within the bounds of the law. So somebody bought the building as an investment in prime real estate. They will rebuild Spats and Skellar into a new, modern restaurant and bar, I am confused as to the issue.

For the prime location, Spats was a not a very good restaurant/money maker. Skellar was a $hithole. We all loved it, but that is what it was. I don't know if they never upgraded because they were cheap or the fact if that if they tried to remodel/upgrade some then they would have to bring things up to code and that was cost prohibitive. Either way, sounds like they had a sweet deal from an absentee landlord for a long time that came to an end.

 

[Ranger Dan]

Sorry man, but you're the Herlocher's schill apparently. "The rent that the landlord thought was fair"? Fair to whom? "market-driven"? Riiiight.

My mortgage company suddently tells me I need to pay $1500 more per month because that's the market. Um, no.

They wanted the Gastigers out and now they are paying the public relations price for not thinking this through, for not having any appreciation of what The Skeller means to SC and the Penn State community.

In short, their avarice or stupidity (it does not matter which) is costing them. As it should.

I have no dog in this fight, but if the new tenant is paying the price that Herlocher's wanted Gastigers to pay, and were willing to sign a lease, then I would say that that is the definition of a free market. If they leased to the new people for less than Gastigers, then they and the public at large has a right to complain. I don't know which case it is...

 

[demlion]

There is no market here you mentioned.

This is closer to freedom of expression.

I don't think any of the economists on this board have an issue with people being fools on social media.

That does not mean we have to agree with their idiocy.

LdN

Huh? no market for beer in State College? No market for restaurant services? LOL. You know every market does not run out of a bankers office.

They have damaged their brand by a foolish marketing strategy. Or a foolish failure to HAVE a strategy.

 

[bwifan]

Herlocher purchased the Foster Bldg back in the spring/summer.
They attempted to negotiate a lease for months with the Gastigers, something that the skellar/spats hadn't had since 2011.
At an impasse, Herlocher found someone else willing to rent the space via a market-driven lease.
Yesterday, without notice, the Gastigers put out a PR that said their "lease wasn't renewed". That's BS. They were not willing to pay the rent that the landlord thought was fair. It's especially BS, since they didn't even have a lease.

Herlocher quickly released a response that didn't satisfy the angry mob. You'd think that after the media and onlookers took down PSU based on little facts or evidence, the PSU community would reserve judgment until some facts were known, but no. The angry PSU mob grabbed their keyboard torches and pitchforks and mobilized. Despite spending somewhere between $0-40 annually at the skellar, angry alums saw it their duty to tell a local business how they should operate, despite not having any idea of the health of the skellar or why negotiations failed.

Anyway, Herlocher has now released a second open letter after conferring with the new tenant that clarifies intentions for the space. Hopefully you can all go back to more productive activities of slamming Pitt, monitoring flight aware, and outing the newest handles of banned board members.

http://www.statecollege.com/news/lo...ate-college-and-penn-state-community,1474729/

Ahhh yes that mighty word of "fair" ... first day of business law class prof wrote on the board fair in capital letters ... went around the room asking people to define fair ... everyone found that what was fair to one person was no where near fair to the next ...

 

[BobPSU92]

Just wait until something comes along that can really fuel our outrage.

Wait?! Where you been?

 

[BobPSU92]

Nice explanation, but I already painted the rock.

HerNOcher.

 

[Chris92]

That's great news. They could have hired a first semester intern to better handle their message to the public.

 

[Agoodnap]

Herlocher owns most of the 400 block of E. College Ave...you know, that space where the Train Station, etc used to be. Here are a few excerpts from the Collegian back in 1985.

"The only thing that's going to change is that the caboose will be removed and the main entrance to the restaurant will be relocated from the one side of the building to what was originally the entrance to the caboose,"

The two new buildings will each have a lower level, a sidewalk level and a mezanine, Herlocher said. The roofline and the facade of both buildings have been designed to incorporate the architectual style of The Train Station building, he said.

We do not anticipate The Train Station having to close

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archives/article_8286097c-7156-52b4-84b9-f86b23aeecad.html

Based on what happened at the Train Station I think everyone should just take Herlocher at his word.

 

[baircub1!]

Herlocher purchased the Foster Bldg back in the spring/summer.
They attempted to negotiate a lease for months with the Gastigers, something that the skellar/spats hadn't had since 2011.
At an impasse, Herlocher found someone else willing to rent the space via a market-driven lease.
Yesterday, without notice, the Gastigers put out a PR that said their "lease wasn't renewed". That's BS. They were not willing to pay the rent that the landlord thought was fair. It's especially BS, since they didn't even have a lease.

Herlocher quickly released a response that didn't satisfy the angry mob. You'd think that after the media and onlookers took down PSU based on little facts or evidence, the PSU community would reserve judgment until some facts were known, but no. The angry PSU mob grabbed their keyboard torches and pitchforks and mobilized. Despite spending somewhere between $0-40 annually at the skellar, angry alums saw it their duty to tell a local business how they should operate, despite not having any idea of the health of the skellar or why negotiations failed.

Anyway, Herlocher has now released a second open letter after conferring with the new tenant that clarifies intentions for the space. Hopefully you can all go back to more productive activities of slamming Pitt, monitoring flight aware, and outing the newest handles of banned board members.

http://www.statecollege.com/news/lo...ate-college-and-penn-state-community,1474729/

Don't ever let the truth get in the way of a good story !

Thanks for sharing...and hope its true...

 

[heckmans]

All of you in the angry mob, frankly, have no idea what you are talking about.

Let's take a step back, forget your undergrad years, and look at this rationally.
Landlords want stable tenants and rent checks, every month. Plain and simple.
Failed businesses and searching for new tenants means missed rent checks, reduced cash flow, and risk to your business.
As much as we all may love it, looking at it rationally, the skellar is a old sh*thole of a space that could only exist as a basement bar with a "history" that people romanticize.
Any attempt to make that space into anything else would require a massive amount of time(missed rent checks) and money to turn it into something inhabitable by a 21st century business.
Think about it. If you want to call the herlochers "greedy," the way they would maximize their profits and cash flow would be to keep the Gastigers as tenants with a lease that reflects the 2017 market.
The 2nd best option would be to find new operators willing to take on the challenge of reinvigorating the skellar.
The worst option would be to close it down, try to convince someone to locate their business in a basement with low ceilings, and then spend well into 6 figures to remodel it.
(Frankly, the backlash and calls for boycotts are probably the greatest threat to the continued operation of the skellar as we all know it, as it must be making the new operator think twice). I suspect that after the Gastigers are out, you'll see necessary improvements made to core infrastructure (ie bathrooms, tap system) and perhaps even some updating of worn out features that will make it inviting to current students, while maintaining the feel of the establishment that alumni romanticize...just my guess.

 

[Sharkies]

The issue is the "free market" rent for that location includes the value of sentimentalism of the Skeller remaining as is... clearly, there was an economic cost to not being able to come to agreement with the Gastigers to allow them to remain operating as it... that inability to come to agreement there was ALREADY priced into the rental rates they were paying. That's the problem when you look at it purely from a monetary perspective. There is/was value in keeping the status quo.

However, they (the Herlochers) (hopefully) evaluated what the negative PR and reviews were worth to them, and decided that a higher rental rate was GREATER VALUE TO THEM than a lower rental rate and no negative reviews... can you agree that that is/should be part of the cost equation?

 

[heckmans]

The PSU community? Irrational teenagers? You mean their future customers? Are you sure you aren't their director of Marketing? LOL. You are defending them because you cannot see it either.

This has nothing to do with PSU.

Thank you for always being irrational and reactionary demlion. You are nothing if not consistent.

 

[LionDeNittany]

Huh? no market for beer in State College? No market for restaurant services? LOL. You know every market does not run out of a bankers office.

They have damaged their brand by a foolish marketing strategy. Or a foolish failure to HAVE a strategy.

You did not mention any of those markets.

You equated "likes" and "reviews" to the "free market". Neither is a market.

Liquor in PA is not a free market either.

I could go on, but I think I will again state my opinion that you should donate your credit card to help the poor students in SC.

LdN

 

[Nitt1300]

All of you in the angry mob, frankly, have no idea what you are talking about.

Let's take a step back, forget your undergrad years, and look at this rationally.
Landlords want stable tenants and rent checks, every month. Plain and simple.
Failed businesses and searching for new tenants means missed rent checks, reduced cash flow, and risk to your business.
As much as we all may love it, looking at it rationally, the skellar is a old sh*thole of a space that could only exist as a basement bar with a "history" that people romanticize.
Any attempt to make that space into anything else would require a massive amount of time(missed rent checks) and money to turn it into something inhabitable by a 21st century business.
Think about it. If you want to call the herlochers "greedy," the way they would maximize their profits and cash flow would be to keep the Gastigers as tenants with a lease that reflects the 2017 market.
The 2nd best option would be to find new operators willing to take on the challenge of reinvigorating the skellar.
The worst option would be to close it down, try to convince someone to locate their business in a basement with low ceilings, and then spend well into 6 figures to remodel it.
(Frankly, the backlash and calls for boycotts are probably the greatest threat to the continued operation of the skellar as we all know it, as it must be making the new operator think twice). I suspect that after the Gastigers are out, you'll see necessary improvements made to core infrastructure (ie bathrooms, tap system) and perhaps even some updating of worn out features that will make it inviting to current students, while maintaining the feel of the establishment that alumni romanticize...just my guess.

I think that's about right. Yeah as an old guy, I'd like it to stay unchanged so I can drop in once a year and reminisce while drinking the one beer that I'd buy. But that won't fix the roof or pay the property taxes now, will it?