Tim Owens' Travelers Tavern, the Akron, Ohio bar and restaurant co-owned by former JUDAS PRIEST and ICED EARTH singer Tim "Ripper" Owens, will shut down for good on September 2. Owens opened Ripper's Rock House in 2013 after the closing of Ripper Owens Tap House. Tim's partner is local businessman Micah Posten, who owns and operates Impact Landscaping. Said Owens in a statement: "It is with deep regret that Micah and I have had to make the difficult decision to close the Travelers Tavern. "In the last few months and the months to come, my music schedule and Micah's landscaping business have kept us and will continue to keep us from being available to focus on the Tavern as required. "It is a tremendous commitment of time and resources to maintain a restaurant and music venue and unfortunately, we are not able to commit the time and energy to this business that it deserves. We have had to make the difficult decision to commit our time and resources to our main careers. "We are lucky that we have had three great years with an amazing staff and wonderful memories and we will close being a successful restaurant and music venue! "We thank all our great employees who have worked so hard for us and we wish them all great success in everything they do. "Much love, respect and gratitude to everyone for all they have done!" Tim Owens' Travelers Tavern was featured in a November 2015 episode of "Bar Rescue", the Spike TV series in which bar consultant Jon Taffer dispenses advice to the owners and staff of struggling operations. Owens called Taffer to give Ripper's Rock House a makeover because the restaurant was pigeonholed as just a heavy-metal bar. Posten and Owens "never owned a restaurant," Owens told Ohio.com. "We don't know how to run one. We need help to figure that out." Part of the makeover included a name change to Tim Owens' Traveler's Tavern. In addition, Owens' hard-rock memorabilia was taken down to make room for a more contemporary look, and the paper-lined plastic baskets that served food were replaced with ceramic plates. "Nowadays, it's hard," Owens told Ohio.com last year. "In this day and age, even being open for two years is good. But we've never made any money. We're gradually losing money, and people don't see that. If people see one show going on, or a show on the weekend, they think, 'You guys are doing really good.' But they forget what happens Sunday to Thursday." Owens recorded two studio albums with JUDAS PRIEST — 1997's "Jugulator" and 2001's "Demolition" — before the band reunited with Rob Halford.
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