Today we’d like to introduce you to Farah Casis.
Farah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The Room Santa Monica will be celebrating 20 years this year!!! After the tremendous success of The Room Hollywood, we wanted to recreate the same vibe on the Westside. Back in those days, the Westside was full of flip-flop/beach-y bars… there wasn’t much around with “soul” that catered to younger demographics. So, The Room Santa Monica opened its doors in June of 1998 to fill that void.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The Room Santa Monica has always been a hit; a steady, reliable, community bar that’s grown and strengthened over the years, culminating in current times, which has seen some of our busiest months to date.
THE ROOM SANTA MONICA – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Circa 93 owns and operates 4 Los Angeles-based bars. I handle all private and corporate event planning in addition to promotions and marketing strategy support. I wear a lot of hats across all bars and it gets crazy, but I love it!
What I’m most proud of is the ability to remain successful over many years, especially in LA’s nightlife scene, which is littered with flashy, pretentious clubs that open with a ton of hype, just to close a few months later. That’s not what we do. When we open a bar, we envision that bar being around for decades, not months.
What sets us apart is actually what makes us long-lasting. We’ve always avoided trends and have never been about the hype. Instead, we’ve relied on building an unpretentious atmosphere that allows organic growth via word-of-mouth and solid partnerships. This requires a lot of patience, yet here we are 20 years later, with a successful business that has no signage and an entrance to a parking lot in the back.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The night we opened our sister bar in Downtown LA, The Continental Club, was pretty special. It was our biggest bar yet in the group, and we had over 800 people come through from all over LA for our opening. I had moved from Boston years prior and I just had this great sense of satisfaction to be part of such diverse, thriving community here in LA.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1325 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA
- Website: http://www.circa93.com
- Phone: 866.687.4499
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/theroomsantamonica/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRoomSantaMonica/
- Other: http://www.instagram.com/farahcasis/
Image Credit:
The Room Santa Monica
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