{"id":422712,"date":"2026-05-11T19:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T19:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/422712\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T19:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T19:27:08","slug":"red-square-bar-closure-wellington-nightclub-owner-closes-bar-to-spend-more-time-with-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/422712\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Square Bar closure: Wellington nightclub owner closes bar to spend more time with kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SarahSarah Bolton is the owner and operator of Red Square Bar, a Wellington nightclub that is set to close on May 30 after 23 years in business.<\/p>\n

When Red Square first started up, it used to have a pool table, a \u201cloungey\u201d vibe and a focus on cocktails. <\/p>\n

It had since become a certified nightclub, with big speakers, DJs and strobe lights to match. <\/p>\n

The bar hosted Bolton\u2019s 21st birthday on its opening night, something she remembers fondly. <\/p>\n

It was also the after-party venue for acts like rapper Eminem, and had welcomed celebrities such as football star David Beckham and cricketer Chris Gayle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an amazing 23 years, but I\u2019m getting older,\u201d she told the Herald. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy kids are starting to grow up and they are at a stage where they don\u2019t need Mum out till 4am running a club.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"RedRed Square Bar used to have a pool table and focused on cocktails but eventually turned into a nightclub.<\/p>\n

Her \u201cunsociable\u201d work hours meant she had to leave for work at 9pm and made it tricky to go see her children\u2019s Sunday sports games. <\/p>\n

\u201cHalf of me wanted my kids to be able to go out to Red Square, but at the same time … I think they are excited to have Mum back on the weekends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bolton said she originally contemplated selling her business to new operators, but ultimately decided against it, saying she wanted it to \u201cgo out on a high\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been hard watching someone else do it over.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RedRed Square bar owner Sarah Bolton with security guards outside her club in 2023.<\/p>\n

She said her staff had been \u201camazing\u201d throughout the process, with some of them having worked at the bar for a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver an incredible 23 years, Red Square has been a huge part of Wellington\u2019s nightlife,\u201d the bar\u2019s Sunday night social media announcement read.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo our loyal regulars who became a second family, thank you \u2013 this place would never have been what it was without you.\u201d <\/p>\n

The post went on to thank the bar\u2019s current and past staff members for the \u201ccountless late nights, hard work, energy and passion\u201d they brought to the club. <\/p>\n

\u201cRed Square was only ever as special as the people behind it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Members of the public took to the comments to share their memories of the bar. <\/p>\n

One person recalled being present for Red Square\u2019s opening night celebration, while another reminisced about dropping their eftpos card there in 2006. <\/p>\n

It will open its doors for patrons one last time on May 30.<\/p>\n

Bolton also owns Western-themed bar Ponderosa, which remains open.<\/p>\n

Janhavi Gosavi is a Wellington-based journalist for the New Zealand Herald who covers news in the capital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sarah Bolton is the owner and operator of Red Square Bar, a Wellington nightclub that is set to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[74,17181,70102,138,18509,17163,380,302,1899,15973,130,2683,111,139,99386,69,90,17177,2738,15406,6967,312,14040,10505,2044,61,52,102],"class_list":["post-422712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-after","tag-bar","tag-bolton","tag-business","tag-closes","tag-closure","tag-decade","tag-its","tag-kids","tag-longstanding","tag-more","tag-move","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nightclub","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-operating","tag-owner","tag-red","tag-sarah","tag-says","tag-spend","tag-square","tag-time","tag-to","tag-wellington","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}