Kevin Duggins and Shaun Timmons had anticipated opening an “old-school” tavern in Imperial on March 24.
However, because of the COVID-19 coronavirus and the stay-at-home orders issued to stem the spread of the pandemic, their plans were sidelined.
Now, the earliest the pair could open Tavern on Main at 1272 Imperial Main St., is April 24.
Duggins and Timmons, who both live in Imperial, said they will open as soon as the stay-at-home orders are lifted and they’re allowed to have customers inside the establishment. “This is giving us more time to get the place cleaned up, and we are just that more excited to have a more completed space for our customers,” said Duggins, 35, a self-employed concrete contractor. “We are looking at the bright side of it. I feel people will be ready to get out of the house when we are able to open.”
Duggins said Timmons also is in the concrete business, and the two will continue to work in that industry during the pandemic, making the delay to opening their bar a little easier to handle.
“We are still bringing in money,” Duggins said. “If they shut down construction, then I would be worried.
“We don’t have any overhead. If we were already in business and had employees we had to pay or put them out, it would be more nerve-racking.”
Old school
When the Tavern on Main opens, its hours will be from noon to 1 a.m. Monday through Sunday, Duggins said.
“We wanted to open a neighborhood bar and fill a need,” Duggins said. “It will be a place to hang out.”
The 1,260-square-foot establishment is sandwiched between Papa John’s and Burgess Orthodontics in a shopping plaza near the I-55 exit and entrance ramps.
The tavern will feature a 38-foot concrete bar, and it will have a 22-foot shuffleboard table, video games like Golden Tee (a golf arcade game), a jukebox and six TVs, Duggins said.
He said the tavern will have an industrial-rustic look with an open ceiling, metallic epoxy flooring and low lighting.
“We are trying to stick to that old-school, shotgun-style tavern,” Duggins said. “They are everywhere down in the city, but you don’t see that much around here.”
Duggins said he and Timmons decided to open the bar after conversations with neighbors and others around Imperial, who said they would like another option for adults to hang out in the area.
“It is going to be a local bar,” said Timmons, 45. “It will be a place for folks who live near here can gather and watch a game and have a few beers. I think everything has gravitated over the years to a bar-restaurant, family atmosphere. This will be different, kind of an old-school corner bar.”
Duggins said along with the fully stocked bar, the tavern also will offer food from a nearby establishment.
“Papa John’s is going to work with us and put a menu up in here for us. We will have Papa John’s food available,” he said.
Duggins, who said he does not drink, said this will be his and Timmons’s first venture in the bar industry.
The two said they plan to hire six employees and will lean on some of them to help operate the tavern.
“This is going to be new to both of us,” Duggins said. “We have some bartenders lined up, and we will get their feedback and help on the operations part of it. It is a little overwhelming with all the time and money invested in it, but that is all right. More than anything, we are excited.”
Duggins said before the pandemic, the tavern was attracting plenty of attention in the shopping plaza.
“People had walked by and stopped in to ask questions, and we hadn’t posted anything on social media,” Duggins said. “We have seen others on social media talking about it, and 90 percent is positive feedback. People are excited to have a new watering hole near their homes.”
