Is Griffin Done or Just Difficult?

Talk is cheap, but keeping a nightclub operating is expensive. Rumors around town have spoke of the imminent demise of Meatpacking District newbie Griffin barely three months after opening. I'm not a fan of the place and have said so more than a few times. However, as much as I would like the place to sail into the sunrise, I am unfortunately attached to it. Griffin was designed by Lewis & Dizon, and I'm the Lewis guy. My partner Marc Dizon is the strong, silent type and did a great job of making the old PM space seem like a brand new bag. I stayed far away, contributing from our office and an infrequent visit. My presence on the property was limited due to my allergies -- I'm allergic to assholes and liars -- so I elected to keep my distance while Marc did the heavy lifting. Now the nightlife blogs are predicting death by grifting and incompetence, and I wanted to find out what's up.

I sat down with a bunch of very talkative Griffin insiders and got some answers. One of the ways that a guy like me can find out how a joint is doing is to chat up the people selling the liquor. According to my guys, Griffin is killing it—sales are consistently high. My source says that, with a few exceptions, Griffin is “selling more per square foot than anybody.” Avenue is a big banger as well. A Cristal delivery was taking forever yesterday, with my gal telling me she stopped keeping track at 25. That’s cases of bottles that go for about the same price as jet fare to Miami for two. Griffin is carrying a weekly nut of about $120,000. They are hitting that mark consistently, and hitting above a 20% profit on sales.

Unfortunately, according to my source, they have been “undercapitalized from day one.” Another source says “making money in the Meatpacking is like shooting fish in the barrel ... if you like those kind of fish.” She continued, “Adam Hock and Chris Reda are grifter type guys, and there is no transparency between the partners.” A close friend added to this description: “Chris Reda’s reputation precedes him—he tells each person what they want to hear and blames everybody for every problem except himself ... he bets the come as well as the pass.” Still I am told the club is “making money hand over fist” and that “if they spent less time fighting and worrying about each of them stealing from the other and stuck with the business of running the club, they would be doing a lot better.” I asked about the rumors of tipped staff not being paid for months. “They have essentially endured by effectively taking a loan from the staff,” she continued. “I think the waitresses are only two weeks behind now ... things are not good, but they are getting much better.”

Debt service and undercapitalization have been major issues. “The long-delayed opening of the space was a major problem ... we could really use an infusion of cash,” said one of my sources. He continued, “We’re making our 20% profit, but we can’t cover our construction payback as well as investors, and nobody wants to face this reality. There are lots of scapegoats ... everybody is to blame except the owners ... we were promised a certain amount of working capital, and there is no working capital.” I asked about mixing of cheap vodka into expensive vodka bottles. A familiar waitress said that she has never seen that. My insider agreed. “It’s not like that, never, it’s just three owners who really don’t trust each other, but they seem to be on the verge of allowing upper management to do their thing. This will result in cost-cutting and better control ... sales, thank god, has not been the problem. The revenue is there, and changes are being made to improve the situation.”