Despite recent rumors that Brothers Bar & Grill is leaving the Village, general manager Dan Zimmerman said the bar doesn't have any plans to leave.
“I find that rumor hilarious, honestly,” Zimmerman said. “Yeah, there’s no chance we're leaving.”
Although the Brothers staff doesn’t know where the rumor came from,
Zimmerman said it could have come from an angry customer or employee.
“In
the service industry there’s always going to be people that are upset,”
Zimmerman said. “I really don’t have any concern with it. It’s not
something that is going to keep me up at night.”
Brothers is a chain, and the location in the Village is one of 20 in a multi-million-dollar corporation.
Zimmerman said the bar is not like other local business — if its profits were to decrease, there would be enough financial backing to correct the issue instead of closing down.
“The only thing at-risk of leaving the area is the management team, which is me,“ Zimmerman said.
Brothers’ location is very important to the staff, Zimmerman said, and they value the relationship between their business and the students.
“I feel like the students are a big part of our business,” he said.
Zimmerman said Brothers also recently partnered with a local ministry — Ball State's Christian Student Foundation — to ensure that all patrons get home safely. The program will enable "safe walks" and "safe drives" home after a night of drinking.
“Our responsibility is to provide a safe, fun environment,” Zimmerman said. “But the emphasis is on safety because they are college kids.”
In the meantime, Zimmerman said he doesn't believe the bar has been or will be affected by any rumors, and he's looking forward to continuing operations in the Village.
“It seems like the week we moved in we kind of became the authority on campus,” said Zimmerman. “When we’re controlling a market the way we are, I don’t see any way that we’d be moving out.”