This was obviously a mix of several problems...
Huge building... almost 19,000 square feet! You know their electric bill was easily $5,000... probably a lot more.
Building falling apart... unless they did a ton of repairs, I know that the roof was falling in before.
Bad location... people driving by on 421 were on their way to or from Boone, not looking for a bar.
High prices... $32 for two burgers?
No advertising... nobody knew it was there.
Built in crime... the building has been passed around by shell companies for years. It was bought by a shell company in 1996 for $150,000, then sold in 98 for $800,000. Then sold in 2001 for $120,000. Then in October 2011 for $1.2 million... then sold in December 2011 for $420,000. Then sold in 2013 for $590,000, then in 2015 for $644,000, then one last time in 2021... back to $1.2 million. All shell companies that are obviously just moving it around...
Overpriced building... if the owner has a $1.2 million mortgage then the rent has to be at least $8,000 a month, just for him to break even.
Assuming that about 10,000 square feet of the building could be used for customers, at 7 square feet per person it would be packed with 1400 people. $15,000 in rent and utilities, say another $15,000 in payroll... they would have to be completely packed with 1400 customers every single day just to break even.
It was doomed from the beginning.