10/05/2026
Happy Monday! This is a long read for those who want to dive into the O'Connell's saga.
This will serve as an update for those who have been very curious about what the heck is going on at O'Connell's. It's easy for rumors to start and for speculation to run rampant, so I will occasionally give the inside scoop, straight from the horse's mouth.
When I announced that we were going to close, it was absolutely an honest post. The media came out and it was big news. It could happen, and right now, it officially is still happening. The thinking was that this place doesn't make money, and I can't afford to float it any longer. I am all tapped out with loans, and I don't want to take out more loans. Not from the city, not from an "investor" and certainly not from a Gofundme. What is the point of that? The only thing that does is to delay the inevitable, and I've had enough of that. There was a certain romance to being the one to close the pub where my parents met in 1962 when they both started working at the place. All good things must come to an end.
But then, the public showed us how much they care about the place. The news hit the town hard, and St. Louis decided that they had to get here before the place shut down, even though we said that it wasn't shutting down until St. Patrick's Day. Maybe they all showed up to simply support the place. Maybe it was just the thing to do that week or month or however long it would last. But here's the thing. We've always done well in October, and November and December are our best months of the year. January is usually good, too. February sucks (bad) and then March is great with St. Patrick's Day. But after St. Patrick's Day, it falls off a cliff. Baseball season used to bring us big crowds, but then the city gave a billionaire a thirty-five-year tax break to open Ballpark Village and scores of independent businesses supported by the game crowds suffered. We were one of them. So, what better time to close it than on St. Patrick's Day? It would allow us to make back some of the money we had lost before closing the iconic landmark on St. Patrick's Day, which is certainly appropriate.
The first part of this plan has worked really well. We have been incredibly busy and have made payroll and gotten caught up on some bills. We have a long way to go, but it's a solid start. And with October being normally pretty good, it's looking like we will be able to keep our doors open until St. Patrick's Day, which is at least some good news for those who want to come to the place before it closes. Everyone showing up in droves has allowed us to keep our doors open to this point, and we couldn't be more grateful. Thank you! But here is where things get interesting.
Since we announced that we are closing, a lot of people have expressed interest in buying the place. But we have been down this road before. We have had two buyers that were set on doing it, only to back out (in one way or another) before we could get the place over the finish line. It wasted a lot of time that we could have had the place on the market. It tied us up from getting the place to a buyer who could buy it right away. Well, we have had some folks come out and say that they want to buy it right away since we announced that it was closing. I've learned my lessons the hard way on this front, and I'm not entertaining any buyers who don't have the ability to close quickly and easily and for the amount that allows me to walk away having saved the pub but not totally destroying my ability to provide for my family. As much as I love the pub, I have kids to provide for, and saving this pub has eaten me alive, financially. (Let the truth be told though the heavens may fall).
We now have some serious buyers looking at the pub. We are now working with Manor Real Estate, Ed & Ben Cherry. They are brothers who know S. City like the back of their hand. They are looking to aggressively market the place to interested buyers, and they feel that they can sell the property. There is a chance that a buyer could keep the business going, so there is hope. Of course we won't name names. Please don't ask. But I can tell you that the closing period will be tighter, and if a buyer emerges who wants to keep the pub going, they will have to act quickly, and at this point, we aren't messing around. We can't afford to.
I encourage anyone interested to reach out to Ed and Ben Cherry with Manor Real Estate. Please don't call without a checkbook open. We aren't buyer financing and you must have these types of funds available to make a cash offer quickly. There is nothing I would love more than to see the pub continue as it has for all of these decades, but it is far from certain at this point. But there is hope, and hope is a good thing. As Andy Dufresne said in Shawshank Redemption, hope is maybe the best of things.
Cheers!
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