The 1933 Group Celebrates a Decade Success in the Bar Business
In 1999, Dimitri Komarov, Dmitry Liberman and Bobby Green founded the 1933 Group, an entrepreneurial business venture that has managed to stay afloat in the uncertain waters of the nightlife industry by opening and managing several successful bar/restaurant locations throughout the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.
Beginning with the Big Foot Lodge in L.A. in 1999, and followed by the Big Foot Lodge, San Francisco in 2001, the 1933 Group has since been able to establish itself with a financially stable business model and a functioning three-way partnership as the foundation for its success. Other establishments opened by the 1933 Group over the last decade include: The Little Cave in Highland Park (2004), Saints & Sinners in Culver City (January 2006), and Stinkers in Silverlake (2008). They plan to begin construction on their seventh bar in shortly.
Komarov, Green and Liberman maintain an intangible success factor behind their planning. The 1933 Group base their investments on a 36-month forecast with a complete return on investment (ROI) planned for every property. They have been able to follow this model and in most cases have been ahead of projected timelines for a complete ROI.
Most restaurant and bar groups have several different owners with varying ownerships percentages for each establishment. The 1933 Group is
composed of only these three partners. This eliminates the over abundance of contrasting opinions and dissention. Combined with their fulfilled track record
of ROI’s, the trio has been able to shatter stereotypes of instability that often prevent investment from the banking industry. Financial success has been found on various levels for the 1933 Group as they have continued to surge across the board through all properties.
Bigfoot Lodge SF is now in its eighth year and sales for the last six months
have been higher than ever before. Without fancy red carpets, cameras, and over hyped advertising, places like the Bigfoot Lodge are still a regular destination for Hollywood (Warner Brothers featured it as a main attraction in the 2008 box office hit film Yes Man featuring Jim Carrey). Other factors like pricey overhead and serving food prepared by expensive chefs are also eliminated from the equation, yielding wider profit margins at the end of every quarter.
Says Komarov, “Our goal is to create a neighborhood bar. We do nothave a big velvet rope with some guy standing outside with a clipboard. We aim to become part of the local community. We are very much in-tune with the neighborhoods that we enter and we cater to that public in all aspects.”
When asked about the current state of the economy with respect to the nightlife industry, he expels the myth of inconsistency by replying, “We are better off than most industries when the recessions hit. People drink when they are happy and when they get laid off. We’d like to be the consistent friend they have during whatever situation they’re in.”
For more information on the 1933 Group, visit www.1933group.com, or contact Johnny Royal at [email protected].
