After being missing in action for the past several months, strippers have returned to Harley’s Hard Rock Saloon in downtown Yellowknife as the business has come under new ownership.
Harley’s is the only establishment north of the 60th parallel in Canada that offers exotic dancers.
Yellowknife resident Scott Yuill says he bought the business, lock stock and barrel, including the building, from previous owner Sarah Handley about a month ago.
Yuill says he came from Nova Scotia to Yellowknife about a decade ago and that he worked for Harley’s for most of that time at its previous location, underground on Franklin Avenue as a bartender and bouncer.
“I saw an opportunity and I didn’t want to see Harley’s die. It’s been an icon in Yellowknife since long before I got here. It’s well-known across Canada. I talked to the girlfriend and she said go for it,” Yuill said. “You grow a bond with everybody in the bar – the regulars, the staff – it’s like a family. They have your back.”
Yuill says the tattoo parlour is again up and running downstairs, but the family restaurant on the other side of the building has gone by the wayside.
(John McFadden/CKLB photo)
He says adult entertainment on one side and family dining on the other was a concept that didn’t seem to be going over too well with everyone.
He says expects to offer pub-grub style food in the near future.
Yuill says his plan is to knock down some walls and open up space for pool tables and dart boards.
He also wants to show major sporting events on a big-screen TV.
Yuill says he has applied for a retail cannabis licence and, if granted, says he will also sell marijuana on the premises.
He also wants the shirt shack to reopen and again sell the trademark Harley’s Hard Rock saloon t-shirts and hoodies as well as other clothing.
Yuill says buying the bar has been a real challenge – from keeping the books to working with the government liquor licence bureaucrats.
But he says he has had lots of help from friends who have donated their time to help him make his business venture fly.
Yuill says he hopes to have a grand opening soon and expects to have Miss Nude Canada here for it.
“She has worked at Harley’s before she became Miss Nude Canada,” he said.
Yuill says finding appropriate accommodations in town for his dancers has also been a challenge but adds that has now been taken care of.
He says the bar will continue to have two dancers at the bar per week.
Yuill is encouraging all patrons, old and new, to drop by Harley’s on 48 St. near Franklin Ave, in the old Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant building.
He says he expects to have a new Harley’s website up and running soon but in the meantime he says folks can log on to Harley’s Facebook page to find out what’s happening.