Gazbar in Leominster preparing for summer of dogs, with new brewing branding partnership
Erica Grinkis, owner of The GazBar Sports Grill and Central Cup in Leominster
After 10 years of owning the Gazbar Sports Grill in Leominster, Erica Grinkis is working on a few small projects to keep the eatery fun and enticing, but its main goal is to keep the space familiar to regulars.
One of the most noticeable changes will be new branding projects with its in-house beer from the local brewery Fetch Brew Co. of Belchertown. With this partnership, Gazbar is crafting branding projects based around dogs, as Fetch has furry friends in its logo.
As part of the partnership, Grinkis’ dogs and her brother’s dogs are being incorporated into branding for glassware and apparel.
The only somewhat major issue Gazbar is facing right now is finding new staff, Grinkis said. The business is looking to fill in spaces left by employees with shifted summer schedules or time off for vacations. Gazbar has around 30 to 35 employees at a time.
“I’ve had the same core staff for a really long time. Some of them have been here for 10 years,” said Grinkis.
It's an important part of her work to keep those regular staff happy, while looking for new people, Grinkis said.
Some smaller projects in the works for Gazbar include bathroom renovations, painting the outside of the building, rebranding the menus, and looking toward matching rebranded signs as well.
The summer menu has various seafood items from S.S. Lobster Ltd. of Fitchburg, and there are new specials every Friday.
“We have a big regular following,” said Grinkis. “So we try to keep up with that reputation. Being that place people want to go.”
For entertainment, Gazbar shows sports events, has trivia Monday nights and live entertainment Thursday nights.
“We’ve done the same thing for a long time,” she said.
This is Grinkis’ 10th year at Gazbar, since she bought an older Italian eatery and converted it into a sports bar. Though it’s come with challenges, there are benefits to the years of work.
“It’s got to a point where I have really good people in the right places,” she said. “It’s my time now to take a step back. Although that’s hard to get used to, it’s a nice feeling to put trust in other people, knowing they have my back and are covering everything.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly said Gazbar had partnered with Fetch Brew Co. of Michigan. The partnership is with the Fetch Brew Co. based in Belchertown.
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