“Chaos. But rewarding chaos.”
That’s how Suzanne Long has described the first year at The Bower Tree, which opened its doors at Sippy Downs on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast on 3 April 2023.
The club is part of the Boldbridge Group, which also includes Nambour RSL Club, situated just 20 minutes away. It offers five dining experiences, four beverage outlets, function facilities, kids’ and youth room, and a gaming lounge.
The Bower Tree opened six years after the concept was first floated. While the completion of construction was due in 2020, Covid shutdowns put the plans on hold. But when the build resumed, the venue was completed in 18 months.
Long highlighted that the response from the community since The Bower Tree opened has been overwhelmingly positive.
“To see the way the community has embraced The Bower as a new venue to town, and a new business to town, with Nambour only 20 minutes up the road … that’s been so rewarding,” she said.
Best foot forward
So, does that mean the club has been operating as planned?
“From a trade perspective, yes, I would say it has,” Long said.
Since The Bower Tree opened, Boldbridge Group has grown its membership base by 11,400, taking the total number of members to more than 35,000.
Long explained that the short-term goal was to always focus on growing the food and beverage offering at The Bower Tree. The food and beverage options, serviced by four kitchens, include Cafe Rubia, Arrows Bistro, Vine Wine Bar, and a pizzeria.
“My philosophy has always been to do food really well, build on it, and give the customer a great experience and the rest will naturally happen, and that’s certainly proving to be the case after 12 months.”
Long is optimistic that gaming will eventually achieve similar results.
“We’re starting to get really good growth in gaming, and I’m happy with that,” she said.
“When it comes to gaming, you’re changing people’s habits. We all know people go to their favourite venues, so I say to the gaming room staff, just give them the best experience, and talk to the customers.
“It’s up to you to build relationships with them and to have them want to come back to see you and what we’ve got to offer here.
“Is gaming where I want it to be? No, but I’m exceptionally happy with it and to build it in time builds better relationships from a gaming perspective.”
She concedes that like starting any new business, operating The Bower Tree has come with its challenges, highlighting the biggest has been staffing.
“That’s probably been the biggest challenge: bringing 75 people together that have never worked together in a new venue with new customers,” Long admitted.
“Expectations versus reality sometimes aren’t the same, but to stand there and watch the team work and try their darndest gives me immense pride.”
Onwards and upwards
Looking ahead, Long said the priority for the remainder of the year at The Bower will be focused on growing two areas of the business: functions and the Vine Wine Bar.
“They’ve been the areas [of the club] that we have, for the first nine months, just grown organically and now we’re really starting to turn our focus on them for the remaining part of the year to really build that and get those areas firing,” Long said.
She is determined to have those two parts of the business “running at optimum performance” by November.
This is an extract from Club Management Winter magazine. Read the full article below.