11/05/2022
The purpose of this announcement is to inform the community and all of the wonderful patrons that effective today Nov. 4th, we the partners of Ambiance have decided to close the business. This was an extremely difficult decision, especially since the business has remained highly profitable since its opening, thanks to the huge positive patronage and support from the West Michigan community. We were able to overcome the Covid pandemic and the riots downtown that impacted so many small businesses, without the receipt of pandemic loan relief which we weren’t eligible for.
We are so thankful for the support and all those who believed in our vision and our hard work to create an unbelievable vibrant night life establishment filled with diverse, super talented musicians and tastemakers, who performed great music. All be it short, Ambiance made history as an upper echelon nightlife experience in the epicenter of downtown Grand Rapids. It has been a beautiful experience.
That being said, the profound truth is that the business climate and the persistent safety issues that have increased all over downtown, in an unprecedented way, has caused us to reexamine our hefty ongoing investment in this establishment. Despite investing approximately 6 figures in security costs into 2 well respected licensed and bonded expert firms (who did an outstanding job for us). Inside Ambiance we had minimal problems as we employed some of West Michigans best security teams to protect patrons. However, the unwanted loitering and elements that galvanized on public streets and sidewalks as well as in the neighborhood surrounding, made it untenable for us to continue our operation.
It should be noted we exhausted every opportunity to engage with invested partners downtown to try and come up with sustainable solutions not just for our business, but for all of those entrepreneurs who have made significant investments to be apart of the downtown ecosystem. Our intention was to help Grand Rapids establish programs and partnerships like bigger cities have where bars and lounges are formally protected and supported by the communities they have so heavily invested in. Our advocacy was not effective enough to provide us with the support system we needed, specifically to operate a high volume dance floor and bottle serviced based nightclub whose focus is on welcoming the diversity the city so desperately needs and is recruiting. We also didn’t want to become ‘the nuisance business’ that encroaches on the sanctity of our fellow downtown neighbors who live and work in the area.
For the record many downtown businesses have been dealing with a number of issues revolving around stability and public safety. For 4 years dating back to when we acquired our space, we had countless meetings to ensure we would be able to operate a great business with municipal and law enforcement support for the outside corridor. We also fought for all of downtown to receive the support they need as well. We love and respect our city too much to have something that we created to bring community together, become hostage to unwanted activities that are plaguing businesses and are becoming all to common place in the downtown corridor. As owners we have to prioritize the safety of our staff and patrons first. It is not our job to fix broken people who don’t respect themselves or our beautiful community.
This decision did not come lightly, but ultimately we felt that Ambiance as we envisioned it, could not continue. In light of the many other business endeavors currently in our portfolio as owners, and the exciting new business opportunities we have in the works, our team decided it is time to sunset what has been a dream project. The pressures of dealing with the continued significant challenge of business risk exposure impacts due to the lack of safety in the neighborhood and more uncertain public climate has helped motivate this decision. We have faith that the City's recent representations that it will make every effort to help change things around is genuine, but for now that is not yet a reality. It is for these reasons we have decided to move on with our business focus which unfortunately necessitates the closing of Ambiance. We are thankful to be able to leave on amicable terms and look forward to the next business who'll inherit this beautiful space.
We want to thank our wonderful staff who stood by us through ‘thick and thin’. Our staff made this business so successful and helped us maintain a standard of excellence through the ups and the downs. We wish to thank all of you for the overwhelming love and support you've shown us. Ambiance was a tremendous step in our journey, and was the launching pad for so many of our next concepts, new ideas and ventures. It’s ultimate success was in bringing together community from all walks of life. We hope you will continue to believe in your own impossible dreams and keep connected with us on social media.
