Rum cocktail bar to close in Dec
Friday, 22 November 2024
Another Wellington inner city bar is closing, adding to the tally of hospitality casualties this year.
Courtenay Place’s CGR Merchant & Co will close its doors after a final shift on December 21.
This adds to the tally of Wellington bars and restaurants that have closed in 2024, including Concord, Automat, Sugarwoods and Dixon St Deli ‒ while many others say they are struggling.
CGR Merchant & Co opened 16 years ago and is known for its cocktails and speciality rum infusions, including a salted caramel drop served 15,000 times during the bar’s existence.
Owner Justin McKenzie, who also owns Hawthorn Lounge and Cuckoo Emporium, said he had been trying to make the bar work for an entire year, but had discovered it was no longer possible in the current environment.
He said the situation was “a bit shit”.
The Courtenay Place market had changed completely, McKenzie said, including the media coverage of antisocial behaviour on the street, as well as the way people were spending nowadays.
Customers used to come in for a drink after going to the theatre, but were now choosing to skip the after-show drink, he said, most likely to save money.
“We still see regular customers, but they’re not as regular as they used to be,” McKenzie said. “It’s not as viable as it used to be.”
McKenzie said he hoped the bar’s closure would give another bar the opportunity to make the most out of the space and “make a new statement”. This had been the case with three other venues in recent times.
The bar was a “beautiful little space” and was previously the Coachman Restaurant ‒ a Wellington hospitality big name in its prime.
On social media, McKenzie wrote that while hospo was having a rough time, he was not finished yet, nor were the other “exceptional” bar operators in the capital.
“Yes, we are having a lull, but great food and drink is in our blood, and the blood of all those who have chosen to call this home.
“Support your favourite places as much as you can afford so they remain part of our landscape. And we will once again thrive.”