Mr. Cornetta of the Love Shack fame was recently granted a business and a temporary alcohol license by the City of Johns Creek, according to the AJC. Mr. Cornetta claims that there will be no nudity at the restaurant/sports bar:
“Nude was never in my plan, ” Cornetta said. “We couldn’t if we wanted to. We’ll have good-looking waitresses, I’ll tell you that. They’ll wear Daisy Dukes. I think Hooter’s girls wear too much, don’t you? I think it would be great to have great-looking girls serving tapas while you listen to music.
Just to make sure that nudity does not happen, the Johns Creek Technology Park changed their covenants to prohibit adult uses:
Then on Jan. 23, Technology Park/Atlanta, the parent company for the Johns Creek office park, changed its covenants to expressly prohibit adult uses.
In addition, a neighboring business has put Mr. Cornetta on notice that adult entertainment will not be tolerated:
Last September, an attorney for a neighboring business sent Cornetta a letter warning him to toe the line with his new venture.
“Please be advised that our client [One Court, L.P.] intends to closely monitor the future use of [your] property and to take all necessary legal actions required to assure that the property is not used for any illicit or unlawful purpose and complies with all applicable laws, regulations, zoning and other ordinances and all pertinent restrictive covenants, conditions, and restrictions,” wrote attorney Thomas E. Jones Jr.
The obvious question is why would Mr. Cornetta open a high end restaurant/sports bar. One reason could be the downturn in the sale of adult DVD’s that is occurring according to this recent USA Today article.
Overall sales and rentals of X-rated DVDs have plunged 15% in the last year and up to 30% over the past two years because video and photos on the Internet — much of it created by amateurs — are available at a fraction of the cost or for free…
Steven Hirsch, co-chairman of Vivid, one of the world’s top adult film producers, predicts DVD sales will largely be replaced by content sold on the Internet. Three years ago, 80% of its revenue came from DVD sales. Now, it’s 40%, he says.
Could Mr. Cornetta be diversifying out of the adult video market and into the high end restaurant/sports bar? Is he trying to develop a high end “Hooters” style business to off-set the impact of the internet on in-store sales of adult DVD’s?
How will the residents of the City of Johns Creek accept and dine at Mr. Cornetta’s new venture? Is Johns Creek ready for this high end type of night spot that is more typically found in Buckhead or Midtown? Given the distance from downtown, can Mr. Cornetta draw from the convention market that supports many high end restaurants in Buckhead?
Only time will tell how Mr. Cornetta will fair with his new venture. If it is like the typical restaurant, it has a 60 percent chance of failing in the first three years. Lets hope it does not take that long.
June 11, 2007 at 11:47 am
I wouldn’t think he would have the money to open that store in John’s Creek, fight those leal battles, run other stores, put on his website he’s opening two more stores this year – if the internet was hurting him that bad.
To me, I don’t think Mr. Cornetta is trying to draw from the the convention market – the average household income in John’s Creek is over $100K. So, perhaps he is setitng up a resturant to capitalize on that market – or all the business technoloy places needing lunches and a place to meet?
It amazes me that John’s Creek can talk about how they are a community, yet have a corporation set up and run the city? That’s really grassroots, isn’t it?
June 11, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Here is another article that is talking about the impact of the web on DVD sales:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=3259416&page=1&Business=true
June 11, 2007 at 5:14 pm
I’m confused as to why you allow your personal feelings for Mr. Cornetta to get in the way of something nice that will entertain the local community & generate revenue. Money is green & works no matter whose it is.
June 11, 2007 at 7:30 pm
I have no bad personal feelings for Mr. Cornetta, but I am against places like the Love Shack opening in the wrong places. There is a place for the Love Shack in the industrial zoned land of Johns Creek.
June 11, 2007 at 10:00 pm
I was referring to the statement: “If it is like the typical restaurant, it has a 60 percent chance of failing in the first three years. Lets hope it does not take that long.”
I apologize if I misunderstood, but I see no reference to the Love Shack in that statement. I took it to mean that you hope the restaurant fails and closes quickly – as in you hope this person fails – which makes it a personal issue with his other businesses & the issues therein – instead of recognizing him as an individual opening a nice restaurant that you may actually enjoy.
June 12, 2007 at 6:46 am
In the article Mr. Cornetta is quoted as saying that the”Hooters girls wear too much”. So much for a nice family friendly restaurant!!!
June 12, 2007 at 9:29 am
LOL! I don’t know what he truly intends but I have learned to not take everything he says so seriously.
June 14, 2007 at 10:31 am
[…] Crime is a problem everywhere. It exists by degrees. And it would seem that our degree is rising, ever so much. And yet, the most recent expressions of concern and safety in our city of Johns Creek have centered not on actual crime, but on the financial aspirations of John Cornetta, he of the Love Shack debacle from last December. He wants to open a restaurant, so the cry has gone out to defend our children from innuendo and beer. […]
June 14, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Not sure what the point of the comment is. The focus is not on the financial aspirations of John Cornetta, but on making sure that adult businesses are in the correct location and not in an area near a residential subdivision!!!
June 15, 2007 at 9:43 am
To be concerned about adult enterprises does not mean a person is anti-business. Many adult enterprises are ‘vampires’ that degrade the economic life of their surroundings.
A study in New York concluded that “business locations with adult-oriented businesses had a significant loss of sales tax collections (42%) as compared to control areas.”