Loockerman exchange closes

I heard on the radio this morning that the "world famous" Loockerman Exchange (also self-referred to as "the Lex") has closed its doors. Having visited this establishment a couple of times, I find this as no surprise. Rather than kick a man while he is down, however, I will point out what likely businesses would succeed in that prime piece of commercial real estate.

A few thoughts. First, there needs to be some sort of take out lunch place, like a Panera bread. I think even a local chain like Purebread Deli would do well. Or a Starbucks. In either case, part of that property would need to have that aspect to it in order to make money off the Dover lunch crowd.

I'll even tell you the key to success for any of these restaurants: Lunch under 60 minutes. Too many restaurants in Dover (the late Loockerman included) take far too long to serve your food. Most jobs don't appreciate taking lunch breaks that last longer than an hour (which includes driving). I thought that was a given, but there seems to be a shortage of restaurants in Dover that understand that concept. The non-exhaustive list, from my experience, includes: Lobby House, The Lex, 33 West, Smithers, and TGI Fridays, to name a few downtown. 33 West is the fastest of all of them by about 15 minutes (on a good day).

The second type of business that would succeed in the other half of this space would be a English pub, similar to Catherine Rooneys in Trolley Square or Kid Schellens. I also think an Iron Hill would do well down in Dover. My point is that these bars, unlike Lobby House or Smithers or Buffalo Wild Wings, could target a different crowd and capture an untapped market. Or they could segment the market. Either way, it's all about brand identity, of which the "world famous" Lex did not have.

While the article above cites to construction as costing them revenue, I find this excuse to be more of a red herring. The reason why that business failed is largely due to its business strategy (or lack thereof) and failure to understand the Dover market. I don't purport to say that I am an expert on these issues, but I do know that no business is going to work in that location unless it has multiple draws to get people to come back downtown at night. Parking is a whole other issue.

Perhaps if this new business worked with area businesses such as the Schwartz Center or Dover Downs, it could more effectively reach a more diverse market willing to part with both their time and hard earned money. I, for one, can't wait to see what business will try and succeed there next.

Nobody's afraid of an Irish terrorist anymore

I went to the Second City players' show at the Schwartz Center yesterday. The whole experience was pretty enjoyable, despite the fact that I probably brought the average age in the theater down by about 15 years. In a lot of ways, the theater reminds me of similar theaters in Pennsylvania, New York, DC, and even Wilmington. For those of you looking for a little culture in the capital of this state, this theater is certainly a find.

Afterwards I checked out the "Lex" or "Loockerman Exchange." I would provide the link to their website, but it loads slower than their service. They bill themselves as world famous, which is a little bit of an overstatement. Compared to the service at some of the other bars in Dover (reviews to be forthcoming), it certainly is faster in some respects, and painfully slow in others. It was pretty fun also though, but after I called it a night, I'm still left wondering where the Trolley Square-type bars in Dover are. For being a college town with two schools within a few miles of each other, I'm surprised at how few people seem to go out on Friday and Saturday nights. I'll try Smithers and the Lobby House next.

I'm not sure what the next act to go through the Schwartz Center is, but according to the gentleman who sat next to me, he said that he and his wife go to shows there all the time, so I'm going to have to look into this more. Overall, I can cross "going to the Schwartz Center for a show" off my list of things to do while I'm in Dover. If anyone else ever gets a chance to go there, it's well worth the ticket price.

And for reference, the title of this entry refers to one of the Second City player's skits. I'm not going to presume to review the show, but there were definitely some funny parts (and some others that were only so-so funny), and overall, exactly what I expected. When interacting with the audience, they asked for some recent event and someone yelled out "mersa." It wasn't until I got back to my apartment that I realized that they were talking about "MRSA." It's no wonder that a general level of confusing arose, but they handled it pretty well.

Tags: second city players, schwartz center dover delaware