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Jay-Z to open a club in Atlanta?

Co-founders of the original 40/40 Club, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Desiree Gonzalez and Juan Pérez have had their fair share of success franchising the sportsbar that first opened in Manhattan in 2003.

The restaurant business is not what it once was however and due to financial troubles and label disputes, not all of the chains were able to survive.

With the times changing, Jay-Z and his cohorts have decided to team up with Delaware North Companies, a hospitality and food service company, to open up 40/40 bars in airports around the country where customers commute daily.

Delaware North Companies operates dozens of national and regional brand restaurants and shops at more than 20 major U.S. airports.

Alex Askew, co-founder of the Black Culinarian Alliance, explains,

“The amount of traffic present in an airport justifies the business case for operating a food establishment there. The cost may be higher but customers are always guaranteed,” he continues.

“I don’t think that is the exact same clientele you will find on the airport side. But the frequent business traveler will likely be the customer with a color blind (that it is owned by a hip hop artist) traffic flow.”

The 40/40 Club’s website hinted that Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Tokyo and Macau are some of the initial cities being targeted this year as cites for the lounge. Jay-Z stopped by Atlanta for a visit this week and hung out with Mayor Kasim Reid and Young Jeezy.

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