B.B. King’s Gettin’ Bigger

If industry vet Jeff Cheen is successful, the B.B. King’s Blues Club will be everywhere.

Cheen – a former VP at Mercury Records and Capitol, and the former manager of War – was hired by the Memphis-based chain earlier this year as director of business development. He’s looking to expand the chain worldwide and is currently talking to officials in Washington, D.C., California, the U.K., Germany, China and Australia.

“We were looking at properties in New Orleans and that, of course, is on hold,” Cheen told Pollstar.

Currently, there are B.B. King’s Blues Clubs in Memphis, Nashville and at Universal Studios’ Citywalk in Los Angeles, and another is opening in Orlando, Fla., next spring. The New York City club is not associated with the chain.

B.B. King clubs outside North America would be licensed, while some potential venues in the U.S. already have investors on board.

“Now, Asia and Australia are situations that are near and dear to me because I lived in China for 13 years,” Cheen said. “I’m talking to my people right now about Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Then, in Australia … I have contacts in the government, and they’re asking for me to come over for meetings as well.”

The Blues Club is first and foremost a restaurant, and Cheen is talking to licensing authority Howard Finelt about marketing the food. Finelt, who’s been in the biz 40 years, arranged Walt Disney Co.’s original licensing program.

In the works are a food line, cookbooks, and merchandise such as T-shirts. Finelt is talking to execs at state fairs about B.B. King’s Blues Club food stands, and bringing the restaurant’s fare into NASCAR pits.

“Third, we’re building a record label, which of course is my background,” Cheen said. He said he’s in talks with distribution companies and the label should launch by the first of next year.

Like the 14-year-old original club on Beale Street, the venues would focus on blues, soul and R&B, and each would be inspired by the Delta in its design – specifically, the balconies, which would be inspired by the original.

“House of Blues copied their layout for balconies from us,” Cheen said. “All the clubs along the Delta have balconies. That’s just the way it is.”

– Joe Reinartz