School girls vacated the space at 501 S. Mill Ave. in May and cheerleaders are quickly moving in to take their spot.
Blondies Sports Bar will open in Tempe at the location formally occupied by the Library Bar and Grill in November, though the original opening date was scheduled for late October.
Co-owner Von Meyer says he feels Blondies, a Las Vegas transport, will have no problem retaining old patrons and bringing in new customers to check out the latest tenant.
“We’re the new guys in town," he says.
Troy Pawleska, who runs the "Mill Ave" page on Facebook, agrees with Meyer's assertion.
"The Library closed for reasons outside their control with the leasing agency, so I don't think that Blondies will have any issues with taking over the Library's old clients," Pawleska says. "With a little help they should have no problem bringing in new customers."
But old clients may be hard to come by. The Library was a Mill Avenue institution for eight years, famous for its library-inspired interior and bar-dancing, school-girl waitresses. Since the bar closed more than five months ago, its former regulars may have found new watering holes. And with so many bars on Mill, one of which already features themed waitresses, Blondies will have to stand out from the crowd.
Some Arizona State University students, like journalism senior Hannah Dvorak, aren't so sure Blondies is a good fit for Mill.
"I don't really think Blondies will do too well. Hooters is right above the future location and that already features girls in skimpy outfits and attracts the sports crowd. I think it's obvious a new theme is needed," she says.
Still, Meyer is confident in the bar's ability to stay profitable. He plans to promote the bar verbally on the Tempe campus and intends on having a grand opening party for the bar's debut.
Meyer plans to target University students, specifically those looking for a bite to eat before or after Sun Devil games. Meyer says Blondies will feature all major television sports packages, including NFL Sunday Ticket and ESPN Game Plan. The games will run on the bar's 30 plasma TVs.
ASU students can expect to receive special discounts with their IDs, including two slices of pizza for $3.
“A lot of ASU students don’t have money. We want to cater to them,” Meyer says. The bar will also feature game-day and happy-hour specials, including $1 sliders.
Blondies Sports Bar will open for business Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. and 9 a.m. on the weekends to accommodate the early rising football crowd. The opening date has not yet been set.
Contact the reporter at alexis.getscher@asu.edu.
