New nightclub on tap

SCRANTON – In addition to welcoming a new year, downtown Scranton is welcoming a new business.

On New Year’s Eve, the Hardware Bar nightclub will open its doors to partygoers for the first time in the former Tink’s complex at 519 Linden St.

The bar is the second of its kind in Northeastern Pennsylvania for owner Ron Kamionka, who also opened a Hardware Bar at 12 S. Main St. in Wilkes-Barre on St. Patrick’s Day two years ago.

“I always open on holidays,” said Kamionka, president of Harrisburg-based Kamionka Entertainment Group, which owns and operates 17 nightclubs in Pennsylvania and its own in-house marketing company.

“Scranton’s one of our target markets that we wanted to hit,” Kamionka said, adding that St. Patrick’s Day, the Italian Festival and other events that take place in Scranton and the crowds these events traditionally draw made the location attractive for his business.

The Wilkes-Barre nightclub has been busy, Kamionka said, but said he was hoping to draw more people from Scranton area also, but the driving distance posed an obstacle.

“Only about 12 percent of our customer base at the Wilkes-Barre location was coming from Moosic north,” Kamionka said.

So, he purchased the former Tink’s location earlier this month to expand business in the area. He signed a 10-year lease on the site. The club is expected to employ 50 people, some which are currently being trained in Wilkes-Barre, he added.

Already Kamionka said the area’s response to the Hardware Bar expanding to Scranton has been positive. He said within two days of the announcement, more than 1,500 people became fans of The Hardware Bar in Scranton’s Facebook fan page.

Kamionka said he was familiar with the site and its history prior to deciding to locate his business there.

“I used to drink at Tink’s,” Kamionka said. “It’s been the icon nightclub up here for 20 years. Go big or go home.”

The Scranton location occupies approximately 30,000 square feet of space and has four floors. The Scranton facility, Kamionka said, is double the size of the Wilkes-Barre club.

The Hardware Bar prides itself on featuring top-notch and headliner entertainment, as well as its party-like atmosphere and various activities that have staff interacting with the customers.

The nightclub will feature amenities similar to those at the Wilkes-Barre location with segmented, themed areas.

“In Wilkes-Barre, they’re stacked side-by-side, here they’re stacked on top of one another,” Kamionka said.

At the Scranton location, the first floor will be classic, called the “Bourbon Street Saloon,” which will offer $2 pints of beer daily. The second floor, or mezzanine, will be “The Hardware Bar,” where live musical entertainment will be featured. “Eclipse,” a dance club, will be housed on the third floor. There is also space on the fourth floor, Kamionka said, formerly that was reserved for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, which may be developed as well.

“With Hardware Bar, our challenge is to make sure everybody has fun,” Kamionka said. “We’re not in the bar business; we’re in the entertainment business.”

Reservations to attend the New Year’s Eve opening can be purchased at www.downtownafterdark.com. Tickets are $25 for an open-bar package and may also be purchased at the door. The package includes an all-you-can-drink open-bar from 9 p.m. to midnight with hors d’oeuvres.

Based on the number of Facebook fans, Kamionka said he expects approximately 750 people will attend.

Following the New Year’s celebration, Bourbon Street will be open seven days a week from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. and the Hardware Bar and Eclipse will open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.

“This property will allow us to bring in bigger acts and higher levels of entertainment, because we can fit more people,” he said, comparing it to the Wilkes-Barre venue.

Kamionka is considering establishing nightclubs elsewhere in NEPA, he said. “I plan to own more than one location in Scranton.” Kamionka is planning to open another nightclub near The Hardware Bar in Wilkes-Barre in the new year.

“It’s about getting that bar tour going,” Kamionka said, adding that he also is hopeful that nightclubs such as his will also help lure more people into downtown areas. He considers a healthy nightclub scene a sign of progress. “It shows a city that is vibrant.”

In addition to Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Kamionka also owns and operates nightclubs in Harrisburg, West Chester, Manayunk and Mechanicsburg.

Kamionka has also served as a consultant for downtown improvement projects in Harrisburg, York, Manayunk and Cleveland, OH.