From The Arizona Republic
by Angelique Soenarie – Jun. 10, 2010 03:08 PM
Arizona’s new immigration law was one of the factors that gave one of Mesa’s major new entertainment venues a knockout punch, its owner says.
Julio César Chávez Campeones, a $4.5 million boxing-themed dining and entertainment venue that opened in November at Country Club Drive and Southern Avenue, closed a week ago.
Brian Weymouth, who helped to develop the Alice Cooperstown concept, is the president of the Julio César Chávez Enterprises.
Weymouth said he plans to remodel the 30,000 square-foot-facility into AZ Country, a country western dining and establishment that will open in July.
Weymouth said he will take on management duties himself initially.
He said business at Campeones dropped dramatically before and after the signing of SB 1070, but said management mistakes also played a role.
“Unfortunately, with this new Senate bill 1070 it really has impacted the entire Hispanic community, and anybody that has a business that catered to the Hispanic community has been impacted,” Weymouth said. “It appeared to me that people were leaving the state before the bill passed. I also felt the Hispanic population be it legal or illegal were fearful of the whole thing. I felt that that really disrupted business. We had to come up with a concept that wasn’t going to be affected. They’re not going to put a bill that is against cowboys.”
The closure is also a setback for Mesa, a city working over time to attract major entertainment venues to boost its sales tax revenues. Campeones, Spanish for “champions,” includes a restaurant, sports bar, arcade, and family center for boxing matches, family events and concerts.
It was expected to generate $7 million in revenue during its first year of business, said Weymouth, one of four partners who own the venue. The other partners are Chávez, Dan Wergin, and Brian Day O’Connor, the son of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra O’Connor.
Arizona’s immigration law makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. It states that an officer engaged in a lawful stop, detention or arrest shall, when practicable, ask about a person’s legal status when reasonable suspicion exists that the person is in the U.S. illegally.
Weymouth said he is sad to see a concept he and Mexico’s boxing icon planned for years go, but is looking forward to his new venture.
“You’re not much of a businessman if you can’t make adjustments. We’re excited to make this happen . . . (and) Country music’s hot right now,” he said.
The country format is no guarantee, however. Weymouth will face stiff competition from Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill, which opened last year at Mesa Riverview, only several miles away from AZ Country.
