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Trader Jon`s Back in Business
By Troy Moon
News Journal staff writer
Trader Jon, the man, the legend, was born on Sept. 1, 1915. Trader Jon's, the tavern, the legend, is reborn on Sept. 1, 2000. It's all a matter of coincidence rather than marketing strategy. In fact, Kerry and Matt Heckemeyer, who purchased the Palafox Street club in early August, didn't even know. ``No way! You're kidding me,'' said Matt Heckemeyer, a Navy pilot at Pensacola Naval Air Station. ``That is too weird. But I think it's a good sign. There would be lots of toasts to Trader anyway, I'm sure. But now there will be even more.'' Martin ``Trader Jon'' Weissman, died on Feb. 18 at age 84, a little more than two years after suffering a stroke that forced his family to close the bar in 1998.
It's hard to replace a legend, and the Heckemeyers, both 33, won't even try. The couple said they purchased the club in a $465,000 deal, using earnings from real estate investments as well as partial bank financing, to preserve and continue its legacy. Few things at the club will change. The gray concrete floors still look like worn-out sidewalks. Thousands of pictures of celebrities, military units and friends of Trader Jon still cover nearly every inch of brick and wood wall. Model airplanes, military flags, even saddles and old Pensacola street signs still hang from the rafters, preserving the museum flavor of the club that Weissman and his wife, Jackii, opened on New Year's Day 1953. In 1992, Trader Jon's was designated a state historic site.
But there are some noticeable, and welcome, differences. The Trader Jon bathrooms have been tidied up and no longer smell like the worst parts of Europe. The air conditioning has been replaced. Live wires no longer poke out from the club's electrical unit - part of the $150,000 in renovations the Heckemeyers have made, including a new roof. Drink prices are set and stable, unlike in Weissman's day when how much you paid for your beer depended on Trader's mood and how much he liked you.
But no one at the club will try to fill Trader Jon's shoes or his mismatched socks - one of his trademarks. ``I'm not Trader Jon, and I'm not going to pretend to be,'' Heckemeyer said. ``Do you know how arrogant it would be of me to wear different-colored socks like Trader did? That would just make everyone mad.''
Musical plans
The Heckemeyers' mission is to do just the opposite - attract a variety of patrons, even though nightclub-goers have a number of nearby choices, including Seville Quarter, The Groove, The Form, the Cigar Brewery, The Fish House and The HandleBar.
Whereas Trader Jon's old crowd was always diverse - with a slight emphasis on the military - the Heckemeyers hope to draw an even bigger crowd with a few diversions, including bringing in national touring musicians.
The club's new owners hope to draw on the experience of their general manager, Mientje Green. She and husband Jim Green managed Tipitina's in New Orleans, one of the nation's most prestigious live-music clubs, from 1985 to1997.
They now hope to attract well-known acts such as the Rebirth Brass Band and maybe even the Neville Brothers. But for the first few months, Trader Jon's will feature local acts as the Greens study the local music scene. ``We're thinking about blues, Cajun, zydeco, jazz,'' Mientje Green said. ``We want to give the people something different and something they'll support.''
The Heckemeyers have plenty of people rooting for them, including some of the Navy's biggest hitters. ``I think they've got a hell of a shot at it, and I hope they're tremendously successful,'' said retired Vice Adm. Jack Fetterman, chairman of the Pensacola Area Chamber of Commerce. ``I'm looking for great things to happen there because I've been assured that they plan on keeping it as Trader Jon's with the same atmosphere. They just plan on cleaning it up a bit.'' Fetterman was one of hundreds planning to attend an invitation- only pre-opening party tonight at Trader's.
Memorable site
Trader Jon's was never the cleanest tavern in town. There were cobwebs in the rafters. Mold and mildew helped hold up the walls that were built in the late 1800s. ``When he (Matt Heckemeyer) first asked me what I thought about him buying the club, I told him, `Let me speak for my wife: `Clean up the bathrooms,''' Fetterman said. ``Now, they've cleaned the bathrooms and are serving drinks out of disposable plastic cups. That's a good start.''
Navy Lt. Bruce Glasko is another Trader Jon's fan who supports the Heckemeyers' purchase.``I think it's great that a Navy aviator has taken the helm,'' said Glasko, a Navy search and rescue helicopter pilot. ``They're going to give this place a new life and keep it the same as it was before. It has so much history and character that I think a lot of military personnel will support it without a doubt.''
What was the lure of Trader Jon's that has so many people hopeful for its successful rebirth? Besides the engaging personality of Weissman, a major draw at the club had been its sense of military - and national - history. Trader Jon received his moniker years ago because of his propensity for trading drinks for memorabilia. The memorabilia came with the sale of the club, and Heckemeyer has been amazed at not only what is on the walls, but what has been in storage in various dimly lit, moisture-soaked rooms and closets.
Heckemeyer heads to a back room in the ``Blue Room'' - the large, dark room filled with Navy Blue Angels memorabilia adjacent to the main bar - and points at withered cardboard boxes filled with thousands of water-splotched photos. Rainwater seeped through the old, leaky roofs, destroying countless irreplaceable moments in time. There is a photo of some air unit from decades ago, most of the faces wiped out by water. There are scrapbooks packed in soggy cartons and other boxes filled with smelly military hats and caps. ``A lot of stuff has been ruined,'' Heckemeyer said. ``But everything that was on the walls before is still there.''
Heckemeyer always will remember the walking tour Jackii Weissman gave him and his wife just before the purchase was completed. ``She knows every nook and cranny of this place,'' he said. ``She walked us through, flipping switches on with her cane, pointing at various items and giving us its history.''
Now, the history is left to the Heckemeyers to preserve and continue. They know their lives will never be the same. ``This is my future,'' Kerry Heckemeyer said, opening her arms to the bar. ``But I feel really good about it. We have a lot of responsibility, and we know it. And we hope to do it right.'' Jackii Weissman believes they will. ``I'm so proud that they're going to continue Trader's so that it's around long after I'm gone,'' said Weissman, 78. ``This is such an important part of not only our family's history, but the city and military's history. And now, that history's continuing.''
Want to go?
Trader Jon's, 511 S. Palafox St., opens Friday for business.
Bar hours are 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday, 2-10 p.m. on
Sundays. (The tavern will be open until 2 this Monday morning because of
Labor Day.) Details: 429-1000.
Copyright © 1997-2000 The Pensacola News Journal
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