Raided clubs remain closed for now
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A day after
Thursday’s raid on nine downtown bars, eight remain closed, changing the look and feel of Austin’s entertainment district this weekend.
Long-time bar owner and president of the East Sixth Street Community Association, Bob Woody, said the eight clubs make up about five percent of downtown’s entertainment industry.
Even with liquor sales on hold and 300 people now on the job hunt, Woody says the show must go on.
"Friday and Saturday I am not going to worry about,” he said. “It's the other days I'm going to worry about. That's the truth."
Woody tracks downtown bar revenue. He said Yassine Enterprise, the company which owned and managed the closed bars, pulled in about $1 million each month.
Woody said the rest of the neighborhood’s bars can absorb that loss.
"He has a very large portfolio and it was operating and he was providing for the customer and he was also doing a lot of advertising," he said. “I don't' look at that and say it not something we can't overcome."
Stack Burger Bar, also owned by Yassine Enterprise, remained open throughout the investigation and arrests. An unnamed federal agent told YNN there was not enough probable cause to close the chic downtown burger restaurant.