When Jack Warner graduated from LSU, he was the least likely of his friends to stay in Baton Rouge. He was anxious to do great things, and there just didn’t seem much to excite a young man with big ideas.
But then Warner realized that Baton Rouge’s seeming lack of opportunity was precisely the opportunity he was looking for. Essentially, the local market was an open book just waiting for someone with drive and creative vision to make a mark. So Warner stayed.
In the eight years since, he has made a considerable mark. It started with Walk-On’s, the sports bar and restaurant he co-founded with Brandon Landry just south of the LSU campus. It became an instant hit. In retrospect, Warner says, it wasn’t so much a great idea as it was a no-brainer.
Advertisement | Advertising
“No one had ever done a sports bar near campus,” he says. “It seems so obvious.”
Warner applied the same principle when he opened his first bar in sleepy downtown. Five years and three establishments later—including an Irish pub, beer-and-pizza joint and popular music club—downtown is no longer sleepy, and Warner is among the main reasons there is an emerging nightlife scene. Along the way, he has become something of its ambassador, spokesman and advocate.
“A thriving downtown is not just good for business and property owners, it’s good for the whole city,” he says. “Hundreds of cities across America have done it. We’re not reinventing the wheel; we just have to replicate it.”
While Warner’s restaurant business is keeping him plenty busy for now—he’s opened a second Walk-On’s and is in the process of opening a second Happy’s, both on Coursey Boulevard, and recently unveiled plans for a Schlittz & Giggles near the Perkins Road overpass—he’s also working on other ventures. He recently started an online company that sells spoof T-shirts.
He’s also indulging his passion for sustainable design. He recently purchased the old Florence Coffee House, a historic building in the 100 block of Main Street downtown, and is going to renovate it into a cutting-edge example of a green home.
Says Warner: “It will be 1850 on the outside and 2050 on the inside.”
Age: 31
What is Baton Rouge’s biggest strength and how can it be used to attract young professionals? “There’s a lot of opportunity here and very little competition. It’s an open marketplace with a lot of low-hanging fruit. You don’t have to be the best, you just have to be the first and you’ll be the leader, the benchmark.”
Click here for the complete list of 2009's Forty Under 40 winners.
Comments
Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)