h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Regarding both trendy and themed bars... a fascinating phenomenon is the ever decreasing time between refits. The whole market is so over-saturated that an expensive "themed" or "designer" fit-out only seems to stay fresh in the consumer's mind for a very short time

I recently discovered (through an architect who is working on cinemas - not much better!) that one of those trendy bar chains is proposing to give all their bars a new fit-out every SIX MONTHS!!!!

Am I the only person who finds this completely ridiculous?

Do not forget the essential "Trendy" bar customer.
Inevitably a pony tail with an idiot atached, chain smoker, and drinks straight from the bottle. Incomplete without the obligatory ear-ring atachment and clasping the mobile phone in the other hand.
Breath stinks like the rear end of a skunk that has been run over and been decaying on some road for a month.....

And to go for a real sterotype, they probably wouldn't remember what the bar looked like the night before

Either that or because the fashions change so regularly it's more profitable for the breweries to refit every six months and keep 'up to date' in the trendy bar goers mind.

You make me think though... the short memory of the trendy bar-goer is a bit like the famous goldfish factoid. You know... the one about the memory span of only a few seconds? So by the time they've swum round the bowl, they don't recognise it? (is that a genuine scientific fact, incidentally? anyone know?)

Anyway, maybe all the crap bar chains need to do is have two fit-outs which are easily swapped over... do it every six months and most of the patrons won't remember that the bar looked just the same last year.

Sad bars, sad bastards in them.

C.I. That makes some good sense.
How about if the Bars were kept the same just to save some money, and they simply changed the name signs?
That would confuse them even more, a Bar could wander all over a town!
They could swap identities and locations overnight.

LOL

I have been in a few pubs that hadn't been refitted for a long time. These weren't trendy bars to I'm going off topic but every other forum does so . The two in qustion were both Marston's pubs. Just the old fashioned local variety. One of the ones was where I was at uni, and when I last went in (last summer) it was still the same. All that had been done was a new coat of paint on the walls, the chairs and stools were still as grotty and falling appart as ever.
Is it just certain pubs or do Marstons generally not take care of their tied estate? (excepting the theme bars they have - Pitcher and Piano chain)

Oh dear, surely you must agree that they do brew Brilliant Ales.
Marstons Pedigree, yum, yum, to hell with the decor!

Well yes they are a good brewer but I don't actually like pedegree!
I much prefer some of their other brews. It was great when they started doing the short runs of more interesting brews and selling them in their pubs. At least you can still get them in bottles (the more popular ones anyway). Things like Marstons Strong, Oyster Stout, Single Malt are what I like.

I would say to hell with the decor, but it just doesn't sut it in this day and age. The pubs neededn't look that bad.

Ok, but the bottle conditioned ones taste nothing like the stuff out of the Barrel, surely waht Pubs are all about. Me, I love the run down theme........er.

But what happens to pubs that have that aura of grottyness? The clientel diminishes, and they close. Not that I'm defending trendy bars, I think they are awful. And, from local experience, they too close, but when they are refitted, the customers are back. I think they close because it costs so much to fit them out, they never make a profit, ,well not in six months anyway. Is that SciFi bar still open in Cheltenham?
Oh, not true about the goldfish. If you tap on the side of the pond when you feed them, and feed at the same time each day, they will come to you if you stand there. So they must have some sort of memory.

Hah! On my Planet, the grotty pubs are still full with friendly locals, the beer is not silly prices and of good quality, no juke boxes or piped music, no 24hr Bloody Football either!
I agree about the Goldfishyfishes, they not only seem to remember the time because they gather at the side of the pool just before feeding time, and go berserk when the owner aproaches more than say my footsteps. Oh dear, another theory down the pan, eh Grey?

I was always sceptical about the goldfish thing... thanks for the empirical observations. Kinda glad to hear it.

There is a pub at Fritham, in the New Forest, that last time I visited, was as a country pub should be. But, i noticed the last time, it seems it's very originality had also made it kinda trendy. so not only were the locals in, but a lot of Trendies as well. So it may have been ruined by now. Sorry, I can't remember the name, but it's the only pub there.

Glad to help with the fishy thang.

TVs, kids, and rubbish piped music should all be banned from pubs, IMHO.

There was a pub in Tewkesbury (about a hundred at one tome!).
It was called "The George". It was comfortable, tidy, quiet, always busy but seldom packed. In the lounge they had on of those old fasioned Juke Boxes with loads of 1960s music. It was never loud, so you could always have a 'conversation' with ease. It made the brewery a good solid income, it was regular, never a fortune. Fairly recently, the owners were replaced, they changed the name to something very trendy, and installed a Hyper Loud Ultra Turbo sound system, you needed an amplified megaphone just to order a pint.
The TRENDIES came, and moved on. Again the theme was changed, etc.
Now we have a splendid boarded up shell of a building, I have not worked out as to what the theme is supposed to be yet...........

Oops, I hit 'Post Message' before I had checked my spelling, sorry.

Same old story...

"Same Old Story" Nah, think its a dumb name foe a bar.........

How about, "The Stoat and Magimix"?

Mmmm, an improvement to be sure.
I was thinking along the lines of "Bisto n B*****ks" perhaps.
Or, F**k Witts are Uzz.

How about, "Terminal Velocity"?