siness
Israelis get a taste
of Planet Hollywood.
RACHEL NEIMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
echno music pounded out over Tel Goldberg, Charlie Sheen, Luke Perry and not so large as Hard Rock, not on that
Aviv's Bograshov Beach and a others — give the package additional scale."
flock of onlookers began to gath- sparkle.
Hard Rock Tel Aviv's long-range plans
er in the heat.
Planet Hollywood has also announced include expansion, says Mr. Sa'ad, who de-
Spurred by a public relations bar- plans for expansion to Dist and Jerusalem clines to reveal any details, saying only "it
rage, teens on summer vacation came within two years, and promised to dazzle will be in 1996."
out in full force recently to greet su- locals with a lavish Tel Aviv opening in De-
He adds he is "happy they (Planet Hol-
perstar Arnold Schwarzenegger, who cember.
lywood) are opening up here.
arrived for the cornerstone-laying cer-
Mr. Wagner says Robert Earl, who is
After all, Israel has a bad perception of
emony of the first Planet Hollywood restau- Jewish, "is taking a special and personal American food. Israelis think American
rant in the Middle East.
interest in the Israeli restaurant. He will means fast food and fast food equals junk
But why the ceremony? Planet Holly- bring all the partners he possibly can — food. But that isn't true. Hard Rock Cafe
wood's beach bar has been in operation from 10 to 15 celebrities."
has quality food, but it would take us a long
since April and the main restaurant/mem-
A bit of a star himself, Mr. Wagner, a
orabilia museum is scheduled for comple- graduate of Herzliya's Tadmor School of
tion toward the end of the year.
Hotel and Restaurant Management, has
Star power is the main draw of Planet since 1988 managed Miami restaurants
Hollywood. And major shareholder Mr. such as Ruth's Chris Steak House and
Schwarzenegger tries to attend every open- general operations for the Reflections
ing ceremony — even if it has to be manu- on the Bay complex. After a stint in
factured to fit in with a busy filming New York managing the Park Aval-
schedule.
on and Canastel's restaurants, he
Theme restaurants are not new, but they was head-hunted by Planet Hol-
have been slow in reaching Israel. The first lywood, returning two weeks be-
major theme chain to spot Israel's poten- fore the cornerstone laying.
tial was the Hard Rock Cafe, which opened
Hard Rock Tel Aviv recently
in Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Center in 1993. At replaced general manager and
the opening, Hard Rock owner Peter Mor- 25 percent minority share-
ton said having the chain in Israel "makes holder Rimon Ben-Yakir with
the statement that Tel Aviv is a great and Ra'anan Sa'ad, head of Active
exciting city."
Management Consulting and
Those sentiments were echoed by Tel former general manager of
Aviv Mayor Ronni Milo at the Planet Hol- Schocken Publishing.
lywood ceremony. Mr. Milo said he was
Mr. Ben-Yakir, who has
honored the company chose Tel Aviv as its been with Hard Rock since
first Middle East location. "It emphasizes 1993, says there is no connec-
that Tel Aviv-Jaffa is the center of the tion between his departure and
whole region. Tel Aviv is the business cen- the opening of Planet Holly-
ter of not only Israel but of the whole Mid- wood — "If there's anything I
dle East."
like, it's the adrenaline (you
Planet Hollywood president Robert Earl get) from competition."
also hopes to use Israel as the springboard
He says he is ending his in-
for further Middle East expansion, ac- volvement with Hard Rock — and selling time to explain that to everyone if we had
cording to local general manager Shlomi his share — due to a conflict with the ma- to work alone.
Wagner. "From the business point of view, jor shareholders. The franchise for the Is-
"In the short run their presence might
it's a developing market," Mr. Wagner says. raeli branches of Hard Rock Cafe and the cause us some damage, but in the long run
Mr. Earl is former president of the Rank Chicago Pizza Pie Factory are held by Lon- they will help raise awareness about this
Corporation division which owns the East don businessman Ronald Cohen.
type of entertainment, and that helps us."
Coast branch of Hard Rock. Planet Holly-
"My long range plan for Hard Rock in Is-
Mr. Sa'ad says he is still learning to fill
wood follows the Hard Rock model, using rael differed from (that of) the company," Mr. Ben-Yakir's shoes and says he's sur-
film and TV memorabilia instead of rock he explains. "The shareholders don't live prised anew each day by Hard Rock's high
and roll as an attraction. In addition, high- in Israel and have other interests. I've been standards. It has been difficult to find lo-
profile major shareholders Mr. in the restaurant business for 17 years and cal suppliers able to meet the internation-
Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce I see it developing differently in Israel. That al chain's high standards and still turn a
Willis and Demi Moore — as well as minor
is exactly the point to part ways."
profit. This makes it hard for the restau-
shareholders Cindy Crawford, Jean Claude
Mr. Ben-Yakir is in the process of set- rant manager to cut costs, he says.
Van-Damme, Steven Seagal, Whoopie ting up a new restaurant organization "biit STAR POWER page 48