UNBSJ’s own campus bar, Colonel Tuckers will be changing its hours of operation effective immediately. Last term the bar was open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 3 p.m.
As of right now, the bar will only be open at 3 p.m. on Friday nights.
Over the course of the term, the management of Tuckers watched the bar closely in order to try and calculate bar sales.
This was done mainly by hosting events for different occasions in order to see how popular the use of the bar really was. In response to that initiative, the management of Colonel Tuckers looked at what could be changed in order to make our campus bar the best it could be.
Due to the fact that UNBSJ is far away from most student’s houses, it’s understandable that many students don’t make their way back to the university to enjoy a brew.
Tuckers will however, dedicate a whole night to drinking at special events, such as bashes, karaoke nights and Shenanigans.
By limiting the hours to only Friday, Tuckers can now focus primarily on creating a pub life atmosphere. More effort will be put into those nights rather than having to pay someone for much less popular nights and consequently losing money.
Anthony Enman, bar manager, says that Colonel Tuckers isn’t the only bar in the Saint John area needing to make changes. “There has been a big shift in liquor consumption. When, how much and where, all play factors into the bar business,” says Enman, “the trend has become to ‘pre-drink’ at a friend’s and then heading out to the bar to party.” By doing this, students are saving money but ultimately negatively affecting the growth of the bar.
As the demographic for Colonel Tuckers is primarily residence students over the age of 19, it’s easy to see how it may be much less popular than the local bars uptown. While this is a change for students on campus, it is not predicted that it will negatively affect their university experience.
Many students have commented that they have stopped into Tuckers a few times for a cold beer after class, but understand that that is not enough to keep a bar up and running.
While it does act as a venue to promote student life, at the end of the day, it is also a business. If students are unhappy with the changes to Tuckers, they are encouraged to suggest events that will draw in big crowds to the bar and ultimately increase the revenue. As of right now, keep your eyes peeled for future events and think about making Colonel Tuckers your place to be on Friday nights.
