Sene campaign a blessing in disguise for B’lore pubs

BANGALORE: While the country is frowning at the campaign against ���pub culture��� and Valentine���s Day by some Hindu rightwing groups, Bangalore pub owners are laughing from ear to ear.

The city's famed pubbing circuit is expected to attract more than usual crowds over the weekend. Many pub chains are bracing themselves for at least 30% upswing in clientele during the weekend with Valentine's Day falling on Saturday.

Bangalore's 200-odd pubs have been struggling to keep those 'rockin' away nights' alive in the backdrop of deteriorating consumer confidence and economic slowdown.

"The prevailing sentiments had impacted our business in the past few months but this hype has put pubs back in the picture. We expect such a situation to work in our favour, with sales going up by 50%," general secretary of Bangalore's bar and pub owner's association, Ashok Sadhwani said.

A few other pub owners, who did not wish to be quoted, said sales could be vaulting 25-30% over the weekend given the momentum building up amongst the city's youth against moral policing. Bloggers and networking sites have called for a fitting response, and some have even lapped up Union minister Renuka Chowdhuri's pub bharao slogan for the weekend.

These developments come at a time when the city's hottest pubs have witnessed sharp fall in weekend revenue during October-December quarter. "Average customer billings were down between 15-20% as people have cut back on weekend spending," a pub owner in Bangalore said.