THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511180360
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Business
SOURCE: BY REBECCA A. MYERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Last spring while working for a restaurant chain on the West Coast, Kim Wise was offered a position in management.
She declined.
``Too many hours,'' Wise explained.
The only way this 34-year-old was going to put in 15-hour days, six days a week was if she were closer to home, among friends. Having her name up in lights would be a nice touch, too.
So when Wise was given the opportunity to manage the nightclub on Hodges Ferry Road once known as Bogies - and rename it Wise Guys Nightclub Bar and Grill - she jumped at the chance.
It was at the end of June when Wise took the reins from owners Melvin Holland and Mike O'Connor, who first opened the club in May 1989.
``If you keep a bar open forever, you just get burned out,'' said Holland, explaining the reason behind the change. ``Mike's got another interest, and I have other interests too.''
Holland owns a salvage yard in Carrollton. O'Connor is the owner of Brickcraft Masonry Co.
The men were also partners in the Riverfront Cafe and Raw Bar, a nightclub and restaurant they opened in May 1993 in leased space at 1 High St.
Nine months later, a management team took over the business on a percentage basis because ``it was too much to try to do both places,'' said Holland at the time. The club was forced to close in August after residents complained of unruly patrons.
Holland credits Wise with doing an excellent job at ``picking up'' business at the Hodges Manor nightspot.
``You change managers, you change waitresses, you change the name,'' he said, ``and you change the personality of the place.''
Indeed.
The 20-something dance crowd that used to gyrate to the beat of DJ music is slowly being replaced by the toe-tapping, twirling synchronicity of country-line dancers.
Although the format is now leaning more toward country, DJ dance music will still be available on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
``We're trying to pacify everybody's tastes,'' said Wise. ``We have a variety of things for everybody. It's not just one focal point.
``You've got the country, you've got the dancing, you've got line dancing, you've got live entertainment, you've got karaoke,'' she said. ``I just try to focus on a lot of different things.''
Wise also offers dinner specials like shrimp on Tuesdays for $4.95 and prime rib on Thursdays for $5.95. A free buffet is available every Sunday evening.
A 1979 graduate of Churchland High School, Wise got her start in the restaurant business at age 21 at York Street Cabaret in Norfolk.
About a year later, she began working at Nic's Too, where she tended bar for 10 years. In September 1993, Wise longed for a ``change of pace,'' so she left her hometown to move to California.
``I took a year off from bartending and missed it so bad, I went back to it working for a chain called Garlic Grill,'' she said.
Wise worked there for a year, while living in San Jose. She returned to Portsmouth in June on vacation and decided to stay after being offered the management position at Bogies.
``My hat goes off to every restaurant owner and manager that has continued success in this business because there's a lot of hard work behind the scenes that people do not realize,'' said Wise.
With the exception of Sundays - her only day off - Wise arrives at the club each morning around 11 a.m. and is there to close it at 2 a.m. each night.
``But I sneak out a couple of hours a day,'' she conceded. ``You have to to keep your sanity.''
Wise said she has learned more about running a business in the last five months than she ever learned in the dozen years she worked behind a bar.
``I was always the front-runner at Nic's,'' she said. ``I was not behind the scenes. And now I'm doing both.''
One of the biggest lessons Wise has learned has been patience, she said.
``When you're dealing with that many employees and bands and DJs and bouncers, you have to have a real open mind,'' said Wise, who employs about 12 people.
``There's just more than you can believe that goes on in detailing this. I'd like to pay my respects to everybody in the business - because it's hard work and it goes unrecognized.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL Kim Wise manages the Wise Guys
Nightclub Bar and Grill on Hodges Ferry Road. She's gradually
replacing the former Bogie's disc jockey music format with
country-line dancing.
by CNB