Good Afternoon Chris, Harold, Dave, Richard and everyone...
I just got off the phone with Larry Mehann and he sounded very positive and confident that Country Star will take off in 98, giving it some times or his name is mud. He had joined the Hollywood restaurant since Nov 97 and have been trying to establish a foundation for a turnaround ever since. He told me that the previous manager was quite young, 26, who didn't like country and had no connections with people in the country business. Larry is a 52 years old Capricorn who has lots of connections with country stars, rodeos, and Coors beer managements which cowboys usually drinks and he feels confident that within the first 6 months of 98, we shareholders will able to see and hear the difference in Country Star.
The Hollywood location has been focusing on tourists mainly as customers in the past which was very wrong. Larry said, of course, he will continue to use his connections to get Country Music Stars, rodeos shows and cowboys that tours several times a year to stop by the restaurant as a resting place when they're out there, but he is also focusing heavily on the local people within LA because they are the bread and butter of the restaurant, the rest are cremes. The place is a night club with every Wed is Ladies night, every Friday have live music. He is promoting the restaurant via radio as well as on the air (he just fax to TV stations about Super Bowl Sunday). This Sunday, there is 150 RSVP for the Super Bowl party and he anticipates about 150 more to come. In the next two weeks he will have Clint Black, a country celeb, and Wynoma, another celeb, in a couple of months after that and many more to come.
As for the Las Vegas location (Larry used to live in LV), he said they are undergoing some changes also and will have country shows every week with well known country stars in the near future. The Alladin place in LV used to have a country show every week and it was very successful so Country Star LV will try to copy the same idea.
After talking with Larry, IMO, I feel more confident knowing that CAFE has someone who is experienced and well connected to run the restaurant. It brings my hope up somewhat for now but there's still a long way ahead and we won't probably see much change in price until 3-6 months, IMO of course. I did ask Larry whether he owns CAFE stock and his reply was no. He did ask a couple of times on this matter but he guessed the company policy does not allowed at this time??? and if he did he then would be an insider!! Larry is now focusing on running the restaurant and turn it around as quickly as possible.
Well, just wanna pass whatever infos I have to you all, take it with a grain of salt or however you like to. You can call Larry yourself at (818)762-3939 and talk to him directly, he's a very nice guy. If any of you live in or near the area, he welcomes shareholders to come in for a visit and chat, he has nothing to hide, he said. I'm in the east coast so if any of you have a chance to visit there, give us eastcoasters your feedback.
Fawn
P.S. Larry doesn't know if there's still conversion left, plus other questions regard to our beloved stock. His job is to run the restaurant and he will keep it that way for now, he said. |
