Bolt’s sports bar to expand to London in 2012

THE (Kingston Live Entertainment) KLE Group stated that they plan to open a Usain Bolt-branded Tracks & Records Sports Bar in London, England within a year in order to take advantage of the 2012 Olympic Games in that territory.
Tracks & Records, a 7,000 square foot US$1.2 million ($102.7 million) restaurant/bar opened earlier this month in Market Place in Kingston, on the same grounds as Fiction Club, also operated by KLE.

“We want to go to London in 2012 whether as a temporary set-up or as a permanent set-up,” stated Tina Matalon, KLE principal, at the Jamaica Observer Foodie Seminar held last week Wednesday at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston.

The KLE Group’s other main principals also include Gary Matalon and Kevin Bourke. Bolt, the 100- and 200-metre world record holder, is an investor in the venture.
“We couldn’t afford to offer him a licence deal so we offered him an equity stake in the business,” KLE director Gary Matalon stated in response to a query at the seminar.

The KLE Group said that a major “challenge” in setting up the business included government bureaucracy.
“Government delays cost us millions but we persevered and Tracks and Records was born,” stated Tina Matalon.

Demand for the Olympic Games is growing rapidly with more than a million ticket requests already received by officials for the men’s 100-metre final, according to the Sun newspaper in London. The final is expected to include Bolt, the current champion and world record holder. In February, the Sunday Observer reported that seats at the Olympic Games will cost Jamaicans a high of $100,000 to as little as $2,760 at today’s exchange rate.

The plan for London follows a recent announcement by KLE to open its second branch in Falmouth, Trelawny in order to take advantage of heavy tourist traffic related to the newly opened cruise ship pier. She stated that other places of interest included the US cities of Atlanta and New York.

The Falmouth cruise ship pier — a 95,000 square metre property — was built by Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL) in collaboration with the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) with the aim to create a one-stop entertainment complex comprising of shops, boutiques, parks, restaurants and bars with an expected 700,000 passengers annually.

RCCL will develop and manage 300,000 square feet of shoreside buildings in three phases. The PAJ is expected to earn ground rent from RCCL of around US$3 million a year and a percentage of all gross revenues from the project.
The Falmouth pier will provide a boost to the tourism industry with visitors looking for a unique Jamaican experience and KLE sees great opportunities there. Bolt was born in Trelawny.