It's quite alarming how often I see this happening in my town. The council and state government did some legislative fidgey widgey to allow "small bars" to open

It's quite alarming how often I see this happening in my town. The council and state government did some legislative fidgey widgey to allow "small bars" to open with less restrictions (ie, they don't need 5+ bouncers, licensing is cheaper). As a result every 20-something decided to open some kind of gimmicky bar, and in the course of a year we had around 80-90 new venues open with another 30-40 the following year on the back of grants being given out. I think by the end of the second year (2015) maybe 40 of the original venues were still running and only about 10 of the ones that started with a grant. Lots of the survivors have changed hands multiple times, and currently the most successful ones are owned by larger bars/organisations or the casino (we've only got one...). In the first year, places were closing withing WEEKS of opening even when they were full every night.