Another Dominican Business CLOSED!!!

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silkesmo

New member
Jan 17, 2014
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SUPRISING right???

Yea, so apparently due to mismanagement and money issues PURE nightclub and Casino in Puerto Plata has closed. It's sad bc this place had so much potential, but the way they ran both the nightclub and casino was not proficient at all. The only reason I care is b/c Now the only nightclubs are in the Playa Dorada area and I can't get in with my pasola.

With so many businesses closing you would think that Dominican businessmen/women would be willing to accept advise from people on business efficiency/innovation. I mean if us gringos can afford to live here and in most cases at a better standard of living than them than apparently we are doing something right. Not being racist just my opinion.

Anyone wanna open a business with me LoL
 
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PeterInBrat

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May 29, 2006
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This looks like a job for:

bar-rescue-spike-tv-jon-taffer.jpg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-oSoLCXYdc

They say the key to getting a business off the ground is to have enough money to learn from your mistakes. Many poorly run businesses can limp along if they have fare rents and a good location and many well run businesses crash when they find out their business plan simply wasn't realistic.

I wonder what the three year survival rate is for ex-pat start ups vs Dominican..
 
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the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
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silkesmo said:
SUPRISING right???

Yea, so apparently due to mismanagement and money issues PURE nightclub and Casino in Puerto Plata has closed. It's sad bc this place had so much potential, but the way they ran both the nightclub and casino was not proficient at all. The only reason I care is b/c Now the only nightclubs are in the Playa Dorada area and I can't get in with my pasola.

With so many businesses closing you would think that Dominican businessmen/women would be willing to accept advise from people on business efficiency/innovation. I mean if us gringos can afford to live here and in most cases at a better standard of living than them than apparently we are doing something right. Not being racist just my opinion.

Anyone wanna open a business with me LoL
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of course PURE was going to have money issues. that generally happens when a disco is populated by kiddies. they have no money to buy what the disco is selling; booze.
 
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the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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PeterInBrat said:
This looks like a job for:

bar-rescue-spike-tv-jon-taffer.jpg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-oSoLCXYdc

They say the key to getting a business off the ground is to have enough money to learn from your mistakes. Many poorly run businesses can limp along if they have fare rents and a good location and many well run businesses crash when they find out their business plan simply wasn't realistic.

I wonder what the three year survival rate is for ex-pat start ups vs Dominican..
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foreigners stand a better chance because they understand the concept of costing, to a certain degree. i went into a colmado yesterday, and there were some empanadas on sale. the guy makes them, and leaves them on consignment. the colmado owner sells them for 5 pesos, and takes his cut.

how can you buy ingredients, make this product, transport it to various places, sell at 5 pesos, and make a profit? i cannot figure that one. unless you do not factor in what your time is worth.
 
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PeterInBrat

Gold
May 29, 2006
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There's also the infrastructure you work with. One of my friends did a start up in the Pacific Islands and was doing over a million in sales every year with his import distribution company. He managed to get himself a good 5 year lease when he first opened, but after his success, the landlord decided that he wasn't paying enough and tried to have the lease voided. Took him four months and thousands in legal fees to resolve. He had made enough by then to survive it but it cost him about four months' profit.

As for the empanada business, you might be surprised. I did well with a cookie business wholesaling the cookies for 20 cents each that sold for 25. They cost me 13 cents to make and I was making 4000 cookies a week. That was also in the Pacific and it was more than enough to make a living on. $280 a week for about 30 hours labor was good money there(in 1991). In the DR, if you could make half that, you'd have a viable business. There are plenty of Dominicans who will work 60 hours/week for over $1000 month income.

There was some recent post about a street vendor that was selling spaghetti and fried yucca that was making really good money. He wore shaggy clothes at his stand to prevent his customers from thinking his products were overpriced.
 
jstarebel

jstarebel

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Oct 4, 2013
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Story brings to mind Nando of Nando Burgers in POP. Started out of a van on the side of the road and now has his own little shop. He stays open very late when most places are closed. Does ok eventhough his food is nothing to write home about.
 
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texan

Member
Apr 1, 2014
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silkesmo said:
SUPRISING right???

Yea, so apparently due to mismanagement and money issues PURE nightclub and Casino in Puerto Plata has closed.
Click to expand...

Most casinos in Latin America do not have the atmosphere people are use to from Vegas. You need craps tables to attract americans. A lot of people like craps and it can add to the atmosphere. Also a sports book inside the casino would attract the sports fans. Casino games are much faster but some kind of sports book would be great with TV's. Normally drinks are only free at casino games and not the sports book so you can make money of drinks at the sports books. A bar / sports book would also give people another option from the disco. With people from different parts of the world you have a lot of sports you could offer.

Maybe get some of the crowds for March Madness, Superbowl and other events in DR instead of Vegas. Pure had the advantage of being open late. With a lot of other places closing at midnight Pure had a major advantage. They would have to have a steady influx of tourist especially during the week. A lot of locals will dance but not spend too much on drinking. Pure did seem to have a decent sound system, lights, tv's, etc. A lot of places in that area have loud speakers but not loud and clear speakers.

I am also not sure what the overhead was for that place. It is pretty big and right in the middle of the hotels. So it might of been hard to cover cost especially during the week.
 
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silkesmo

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Jan 17, 2014
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the gorgon said:
of course PURE was going to have money issues. that generally happens when a disco is populated by kiddies. they have no money to buy what the disco is selling; booze.
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Yea, I know what you mean. I would visit the club every so often and everytime I would buy bottles. They knew me well enough that I didn't have to pay to get in (If you're not sporting a tourist bracelet it costs) But despite that I was never treated any better than the other people. The DJ would ignore my song requests. Had to pay after each bottle I bought, servers took forever with payment and all service. I tried talking to manager and explaining that I was buying more alcohol than everyone else in the club, but that didn't seem to matter. Oh well
 
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silkesmo

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Jan 17, 2014
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bizzyboneizo said:
i never seen big shot players in the casino like the one in boca chica and santo domingo
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Of coarse, the games suck and are obviously rigged. They actually cheated you in front of your face like you were stupid. They would never let foreigners run a casino here b/c we'd put them all outta business.
 
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Gurabo444

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Nov 1, 2009
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Could the problem be Puerto Plata? And not the club? Pure is also in Santiago, SD, Bayahibe, and Punta Cana, soon they'll also open a new one in San Francisco and some other city. I don't know about the other ones, but the one in Santiago seems to be doing good, the times I've been there, it has been always full. About a year ago didn't the last pizza hut in PP closed it's doors in Puerto Plata? To me it looks like the whole north coast is economically struggling.
 
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the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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Gurabo444 said:
Could the problem be Puerto Plata? And not the club? Pure is also in Santiago, SD, Bayahibe, and Punta Cana, soon they'll also open a new one in San Francisco and some other city. I don't know about the other ones, but the one in Santiago seems to be doing good, the times I've been there, it has been always full. About a year ago didn't the last pizza hut in PP closed it's doors in Puerto Plata? To me it looks like the whole north coast is economically struggling.
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economically, Santiago is a completely different kettle of fish. the is no real money in POP to support these ventures.
 
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mcbc

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Mar 3, 2010
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For your info, Dream Casino is not a total Dominican business. Run by a Canadian groups. If you want to know their stories (because I am pretty sure they will make a movie of that saga someday) and how to blow 111 millions, take a look at this;

http://www.canadianfraudlaw.com/files/2014/03/2013onsc7101.pdf


Or google Micheal Degroote dream casino.

Almost all of the Dream Casinos are now closed. I think few like Santo Domingo and Santiago are still open.
 
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IslandDreaming

Gold
May 5, 2007
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mcbc said:
For your info, Dream Casino is not a total Dominican business. Run by a Canadian groups. If you want to know their stories (because I am pretty sure they will make a movie of that saga someday) and how to blow 111 millions, take a look at this;

http://www.canadianfraudlaw.com/files/2014/03/2013onsc7101.pdf




Or google Micheal Degroote dream casino.

Almost all of the Dream Casinos are now closed. I think few like Santo Domingo and Santiago are still open.
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Interesting about DeGroote and problems with Dominican casinos Couple questions: Where exactly in POP was this one located? When did Jamaica allow casinos? I read once they passed a law that prohibited true casinos in any place (Hotels) that had less than 2000 rooms and from my memory there isn't a hotel in Jamaica close to that unless it is well hidden up in Cockpit country along with the Jamaican pig that tried to kill me
 
melphis

melphis

Living my Dream
Apr 18, 2013
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In my opinion the biggest problem with upstart businesses here is a complete lack of due diligence. Once you have your solid business plan, location sorted out, and a good understanding of Dominican labor law, 99% of business people I know would run like a bunch of scared little school girls. The killer for "Gringo Businesses" here is the labor laws. It goes completely against any business law or formula that was ever invented. How anything makes it here is still a mystery to me. But I guess that's another one of the reasons we all came here. We love surprises and we usually are not disappointed.
 
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texan

Member
Apr 1, 2014
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I think Pure could of had better service. Sometimes it took a while to get the bottle and all the mixers. Of course sometimes it was busier then others so sometimes a table for your bottle was harder. But it seemed like they spent some money to build the place. Puerto Plata has a decent size population and some people with money or at least nice houses. But there isn't a ton of people that seem to go out and eat and drink a lot besides the smaller places. Las Palmas has good food in my opinion but there isn't a done of restaurants. The other things is so many of the hotels are all inclusive so people stay inside the hotels to eat and drink.

If the leave the all inclusive hotel it is for an organized tour. I think if there was a bar, sports bar or restaurant at pure that might of helped. If part of your group wanted to dance and another part wanted to relax at a more low key bar or get a bite to eat. An outside area where the music wasn't as loud and maybe more places to sit down. But it was either gamble or be inside a pretty loud disco.
 
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PeteyPablo

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Apr 30, 2011
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silkesmo said:
With so many businesses closing you would think that Dominican businessmen/women would be willing to accept advise from people on business efficiency/innovation. I mean if us gringos can afford to live here and in most cases at a better standard of living than them than apparently we are doing something right...
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I catch myself saying that ALL the time. AGREED!!!
 
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dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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Derfish said:
Wit a minimum wage in the range of $.50 an hour what is wrong with labor laws here?
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liquidation and 13th wages. to employ someone legally costs you their 2 additional monthly wages per year. this is not business friendly approach. i understand the protection of the worker but this is going too far.
 
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