Japp's in Over-the-Rhine reopens as part of 'entire Cincinnati renaissance'

Sharon Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer
Updated ·2 min read

This is part of The Enquirer's series on the Future of Downtown.

Bob Deck and his company Four Entertainment Group are known for creating bars and restaurants with intriguing concepts and names.

Think Killer Queen at The Banks or Pilar on Court Street.

But in reopening Japp's on Main Street Thursday night in Over-the-Rhine, 4EG opted against any name change. Instead, it doubled down on the past, playing up the building's origins as a hair supply store with original signs as part of the decor and updating the enu with old newspaper articles on it. Japp's was started as a wig store by John G. Japp in 1879.

Deck started 4EG in 2001 and has three partners. Japp's is 4EGs 13th entertainment space in Cincinnati, but the company has bars in Chicago and Columbus too.

Deck joined The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast this week to talk about Japp's, 4EGs rise to prominence in Cincinnati's entertainment scene and the dining landscape downtown.

Bob Deck, founding member of the Cincinnati-baed Four Entertainment Group.
Bob Deck, founding member of the Cincinnati-baed Four Entertainment Group.

"We had no idea that it would ever turn into what it is today," Deck said of 4EG. Some of the places that we've opened up over the years have been in areas that maybe nobody thought a place would even go in. We've just been along the ride with this entire Cincinnati renaissance."

Deck said he sees Cincinnati entering a "new era of growth and development" with the upcoming boom in residential housing Downtown. But bars and restaurants, as he's talked about before, need business from Downtown workers too.

"I encourage every business owner out there that even if they start small and maybe they have some type of hybrid schedule first to continue to get people back in the office and back Downtown," Deck said. "It's not even necessarily for my business, but I'm talking about the people that survive on lunch business and all the other businesses that survive on the business community to be 50%, 60% of their business. I can't say enough that to try to encourage people to get back downtown to work."

Listen to Bob Deck's full conversation with "That's So Cincinnati" for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Media and other podcast listening platforms

Japp's in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood has undergone a renovation since 4EG purchased it earlier this year. The decor is a nod to its origin as a hair store.
Japp's in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood has undergone a renovation since 4EG purchased it earlier this year. The decor is a nod to its origin as a hair store.
Japp's in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood has undergone a renovation since 4EG purchased it earlier this year. The decor is a nod to its origin as a hair store.
Japp's in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood has undergone a renovation since 4EG purchased it earlier this year. The decor is a nod to its origin as a hair store.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Japp's owner talks reopening, Cincinnati bars and restaurant future