A longtime sports bar has said goodbye after nearly two decades of operation in the Lehigh Valley.
After opening for a final late night, Volpe’s Sports Bar closed early Sunday morning at 501 Broad St. in Emmaus, bar and property owner Fran Volpe said.
“I know this is a little painful going through this now and never great with the employees trying to figure out their situation as well, but it’s something that had to be done,” he said.
The Volpe’s family business dates to over 80 years ago, according to the bar’s website, when Fran’s grandfather, Italian emigrant Americo Volpe, around 1940 purchased the property that now hosts Volpe’s Sports Bar at 19th and Tilghman streets in Allentown.
Fran said his father, Robert, has operated the Allentown property since 1984, back when it was known as the Lafayette Inn. The sports bar there will continue to operate.
“I grew up in that,” Fran said. “Just around that business all the time. When I was old enough, I bartended it. I grew up cutting the grass, just doing everything around, so I understood the business at an early age.”
After leaving the mortgage business following the Great Recession, Fran said he opened the Emmaus bar in late 2008.
A few thing caused the closure, he said, including the fact that people don’t seem to drink or stay out as late as much as they used to.
“I think that trend, I could see that coming for a long time,” Fran said. “And the nighttime business, which is what we were … we were a drinking establishment that … a big percentage of our business was alcohol and a smaller percentage was food. And we’ve tried over the years to do more and more food, and I think we’re at the point now where … I would not open up a bar the way we were when we opened here. Like that business model, I think, just isn’t the same as what would be successful today.”
Fran’s priorities have also shifted to other responsibilities, like family.
“When I started this business when I was 30 and was single and didn’t have kids, my life was a little different,” he said. “My priorities were a little different. Now I have teenage kids and I coach. I’m also the wrestling coach at Parkland High School for the girls. So I’ve kind of gotten myself into some other things that take me away from this business, and I just got to the point where I think the changes that need to be made in order to make this place successful again — successful enough in my eyes — I feel like the changes would have to be pretty big, and I’m just not in a position that I want to do that at this time.”
Fran said he closed without a plan for what happens next at the Emmaus property, but that he’d consider arrangements such as opening a different business there, bringing on a partner, renting the property to another operator or selling the property.
No matter what, Fran said, he imagines it will need to be something new — a new name and new menu.
“I think now for this place to be successful, [it] has to be more of a food-driven … because I do think that Emmaus has an opportunity for a good restaurant,” he said.
Those with inquiries for the property can reach Fran at info@volpessportsbar.com.