A lack of customers caused owner Pat Ensign to close Pat’s Bar and Grill Jan. 1 in downtown Kent after 4 1/2 years.
“Bottom line is we did not have enough people in the seats,” Ensign said during a phone interview Tuesday. “The weekend crowds were not enough to cover for the rest of the week.”
Pat’s Bar, 114 Railroad Ave. N., had a farewell party from 1-4 p.m. Dec. 31. The bar featured live music each weekend, occasionally brought in Seattle-area comedians for comedy nights and offered inexpensive prices on Taco Tuesday.
“I thought we did a very good job of bringing in local music and comedians for people to enjoy,” Ensign said. “We tried to make it a good meeting place. We just didn’t get enough people to sustain it.”
Ensign announced the closing on the website www.patsbar.com.
“Patty (Ensign) and I want to thank all of our patrons and friends for their support over the past 4 1/2 years,” Ensign wrote on the website. “It’s been a lot of fun and we’ve had a chance to meet a lot of great people.”
Ensign opened the bar in June 2007 after 32 years in the commercial insurance business. He told the Kent Reporter in a 2009 feature story that he picked the downtown location because of the then-proposed ShoWare Center, which opened in January 2009, as well as a proposed condominium, hotel and parking garage at the corner of Fourth Avenue and West Smith Street. That development fell through and a half-built parking garage sat empty on the corner for four years.
“The development never happened and the ShoWare had its own troubles,” Ensign said about the city-owned arena that has lost money three straight years. “We had our share of customers from the ShoWare but Kent Station (restaurants and bars) received the majority of patrons from the ShoWare.”
Ensign said a struggling economy didn’t help either.
“We did not make enough to cover expenses,” he said.
Ensign said he was unsure at this point what he will do next.
“I’ll get through this transition and figure it out,” he said.
The Kent Downtown Partnership announced the closing of Pat’s in its newsletter.
“KDP would like to wish Pat and Patty all the best in the future,” the newsletter read. “You will be missed!”
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