Back in July it was announced that the Margaritaville Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi would close on or before September 19th. On Monday night, the doors closed.

Allen Godfrey, executive director of the Gaming Commission, told the Sun Herald that officials from the casino notified them they would close at 10 p.m.

“We were made aware of this and we’ll have agents on standby,” he said.

A train clacked by around 9:30 p.m., its whistle a last call for the casino that opened in 2012 with a concert by Jimmy Buffett.

A couple moving from Michigan to Nevada pulled in and when they learned it was the final hour, hurried inside to buy a souvenir T-shirt.

A few employees carried items to their cars, while others not scheduled to work headed in one last time.

“We’ve been here since Day 1,” a woman said while another said, “We’re just saying goodbye to our co-workers.”

The third woman said, “it’s sad but …” and shrugged her shoulders.

The employee parking lot was empty and the staff was parked in the regular lot.

“The employees are going to be paid through the 19th as promised,” said Michael Cavanaugh, attorney for MVB Holdings, which operated the casino.

Cavanaugh said the company was unable to come to an agreement with the landlords to build a hotel on the property, which the management said is needed for the casino to stay in business.

“Everybody wants a better outcome,” Cavanaugh said, “everybody but the landlords.”

The landowners won’t be able to step in and run the casino, he said. “When we close down the license is history.”

Gaming Commission regulations now require a casino to have a 200-room hotel and other amenities before they open.

(hat tip Tony)

Developers of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort have revealed some of the restaurants and amenities that the property will offer when it opens in the summer of 2015:

Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort will feature Jimmy Buffett lyric-inspired food and beverage venues including Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, LandShark Bar & Grill, License to Chill Rooftop Bar, Lone Palm Bar and 5 o’clock Somewhere Bar.

Developers also announced that a Margaritaville-inspired upscale dining restaurant named JWB’s will also be part of the resort’s lineup.

Margaritaville will also have a St. Somewhere Spa with 11 treatment rooms. Services at the 15,000 square-foot spa will include hot stone treatments, aromatherapy, deep tissue massages, Swedish massages, Shiatsu massages, on-site facials, waxing, hair styling, manicures and pedicures.

The resort will also offer 11 meeting and event spaces, including the 10,224 square foot Compass Rose Ballroom. More details will be announced on the resort’s beachfront fitness center, water recreation and activity areas and entertainment venues.

It was announced nearly two months ago that Jimmy Buffett’s restaurant in Waikiki would close, but a new operator has stepped in and will run the place under a license from Jimmy.

The operators of Hawaii chef and restaurateur Peter Merriman’s Monkeypod Kitchen will take over the Jimmy Buffet’s at the Beachcomber restaurant, which closes at the end of this month, Outrigger Enterprises Group said Tuesday.

Outrigger, which manages the Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Resort, said Tuesday that Handcrafted Restaurants LLC, will continue to operate the restaurant under the Jimmy Bufett’s brand following a one-week closure from Sept. 1-7 while the space in the upper lobby level of the hotel undergoes a renovation.

“We are honored to carry on Jimmy Buffett’s great operation in Waikiki and look forward to expanding on its popularity with a few changes to the facilities and new additions to the menu that highlight Hawaii local flavors,” Bill Terry, partner at Handcrafted Restaurants, said in a statement. “The interview process is currently underway with restaurant management and staff and we expect a quick and easy transition.”

Handcrafted Restaurants, a partnership between Merriman and Terry, also operates Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman’s two locations in Ko Olina Resort in West Oahu and Wailea on Maui.

Jimmy Buffet’s, which opened in 2009, is part of the Margaritaville’s restaurant group that has 21 locations in the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean, according to its website.

Barely two years after it opened, the Margaritaville Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi will close in the next two months.

The casino will own the dubious title of first casino to close on the Gulf Coast since Katrina nine years ago.

Management met with employees Monday morning and gave them WARN notices, required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, telling them of the impending closing of the casino on or before Sept. 19.

Employees were told not to speak to reporters and said on the way out of the meeting, “It could cost us.”

It will be business as usual, said Michael Cavanaugh, attorney for the owners. But business dropped following the announcement that Harrah’s Casino in Tunica was closing in June, and Cavanaugh said Margaritaville could close in a couple of weeks if the same happens in Biloxi.

Cavanaugh said MVB Holding LLC, the company that operates the casino, was unable to come to an agreement with its landlord and therefore could not secure financing to build a hotel.

Cavanaugh also admitted that the casino is losing money, but declined to say how much.

There were lots of high hopes for the casino that opened May 22, 2012, with a concert by Buffett, attended by thousands and broadcast live worldwide on Margaritaville Radio.

Read more at The Sun Herald.

Only three weeks ago, it was announced that Jimmy Buffett’s at The Beachcomber restaurant in Honolulu is closing.

After five years in business, Jimmy Buffett’s at the Beachcomber restaurant is closing.

“They did ask, and we did grant an early termination on August 31, of their restaurant lease,” confirmed Nancy Daniels, director of public relations for Outrigger Enterprises Group, which manages the Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Resort.

The restaurant’s general manager was not immediately available for comment, and corporate officials and their representatives did not immediately return calls.

The restaurant opened in 2009 and for a time became the home of the popular Saturday morning Perry and Price broadcast on KSSK-FM 92.3/AM 590.