After more than a decade of being downtown, Jake’s Cigars and Spirits is about to experience a major upgrade.
“We’ll welcome everyone here,” Alex Roskelley, co-owner of Jake’s Cigars and Spirits, said of Jake’s future location at the southwest corner of 14th and P streets, just north of its current location. “We’ve been downtown for 11 years. We’d hate to leave, and that wouldn’t be fair to customers who are used to having us here.”
As for the new location, “it’s a little smaller than we wanted, but it’s great,” said John Larkin, the other co-owner. “It’s just off (O St.), so it’s not mixed in with the frat bars if you’re not into that. And we can still get our late night business like normal.”
The old store will continue to operate until renovations are done, hopefully sometime in September.
“It’d be nice to have it done before the beginning of football season, but you never know,” said Larkin. “Everything in here will be built by our own hands.”
Roskelley described the style of the new bar as “similar to (Jake’s Omaha location), but we’ll make it nicer.”
They want to keep the style, feel and atmosphere the way it has always been so that customers will be comfortable.
The renovated store will feature a slightly larger humidor, increased inventory, a wider selection of products and a well-stocked liquor and cigar bar.
“While Jake’s is filed as a cigar bar, it’s not going to be your old-timey, rich guy cigar bar,” Larkin said. “It is also going to be well-ventilated, so it won’t be smoky in here.”
The plan for the bar includes keeping it stocked with everything from scotch to wine. Roskelley and Larkin already have 18 beers picked out for the tap along with more than 120 bottled beers. Bourbon fans will have as many as 40 options when picking a bottle.
But will it be the kind of place where a person could go and have a smoke or a drink while watching the game? Maybe catch a live band or two? Probably not.
“We’ll have maybe one TV,” Larkin said.
“It’s a chill place, a place to hang out with friends. We don’t want a whole lot of distractions. It’s not a sports bar. We won’t have live music. It’s not a dance club.”
Either way, both expect great things for their project.
Thus, even in this economic downturn where expansion and growth are especially rare, Jake’s is excelling and will need to hire a larger staff soon.
“We’ll have a larger space, a full service bar,” said employee Todd Cox. “We’ll definitely have to have bartenders along with the regular retail staff. It’ll create a few jobs for people.”
heidigarvin@dailynebraskan.com
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